Abortion Around the World

In the U.S., induced abortion poses minimal risks to women's health; however, in countries where abortion is illegal, complications are common. In 2012, 6.9 million women worldwide received treatment for complications of unsafe abortion. To examine changes in global rates of abortion over the last 20 years, as well as the effects of legal restrictions on abortion, investigators compiled data from multiple international sources for 1069 country-years.

Among women of reproductive age (range, 15–44), an estimated 35 abortions per 1000 women worldwide occurred annually in 2010–2014, compared with 40 per 1000 women in 1990–1994. However, because of population growth, the absolute annual number of abortions rose from 50 million to 56 million. From…