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Sunday, October 11, 2026

The US saw 930,160 abortions in 2020, reversing a 30-year decline - Poynter

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The Guttmacher Institute, a research group that supports abortion rights, just reported new figures showing abortion procedures rose from 862,320 in 2017 to 930,160 in 2020. The increase marks a reversal of a two-decade trend.

Guttmacher states:

According to new findings from Guttmacher’s latest Abortion Provider Census—the most comprehensive data collection effort on abortion provision in the United States—there were 8% more abortions in 2020 than in 2017.

That increase comes as the U.S. Supreme Court is poised to rule on a landmark abortion case that could restrict abortions in half of all states.

Guttmacher’s Abortion Provider Census finds:

  • In 2020, there were 930,160 abortions in the United States, an 8% increase from 862,320 abortions in 2017.
  • Similarly, the abortion rate increased from 13.5 abortions per 1,000 women aged 15–44 in 2017 to 14.4 per 1,000 women, a 7% increase.
  • In 2020, about one in five pregnancies ended in abortion. More specifically, the abortion ratio (the number of abortions per 100 pregnancies) increased from 18.4% in 2017 to 20.6% in 2020, a 12% increase.
  • The increase in abortion was accompanied by a 6% decline in births between 2017 and 2020.
  • Because there were many more births (3.6 million) than abortions...


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