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Abortion Facts VS Adoption Facts

In The UNITED STATES abortion thrives!

The following is a list of useful abortion statistics as well as some facts. All abortion numbers are derived from pro-abortion sources courtesy of The Alan Guttmacher Institute and Planned Parenthood's Family Planning Perspectives.

In The UNITED STATES abortion thrives!

Number of abortions per year: 1.37 Million (1996)
Number of abortions per day: Approximately 3,700

Who's having abortions (age)?
52% of women obtaining abortions in the U.S. are younger than 25: Women aged 20-24 obtain 32% of all abortions; Teenagers obtain 20% and girls under 15 account for 1.2%.

Who's having abortions (race)?
While white women obtain 60% of all abortions, their abortion rate is well below that of minority women. Black women are more than 3 times as likely as white women to have an abortion, and Hispanic women are roughly 2 times as likely.

Who's having abortions (marital status)?
64.4% of all abortions are performed on never-married women; Married women account for 18.4% of all abortions and divorced women obtain 9.4%.

Who's having abortions (religion)?
Women identifying themselves as Protestants obtain 37.4% of all abortions in the U.S.; Catholic women account for 31.3%, Jewish women account for 1.3%, and women with no religious affiliation obtain 23.7% of all abortions. 18% of all abortions are performed on women who identify themselves as "Born-again/Evangelical".

Who's having abortions (income)?
Women with family incomes less than $15,000 obtain 28.7% of all abortions; Women with family incomes between $15,000 and $29,999 obtain 19.5%; Women with family incomes between $30,000 and $59,999 obtain 38.0%; Women with family incomes over $60,000 obtain 13.8%.

Why women have abortions
1% of all abortions occur because of rape or incest; 6% of abortions occur because of potential health problems regarding either the mother or child, and 93% of all abortions occur for social reasons (i.e. the child is unwanted or inconvenient).

At what gestational ages are abortions performed:
52% of all abortions occur before the 9th week of pregnancy, 25% happen between the 9th & 10th week, 12% happen between the 11th and 12th week, 6% happen between the 13th & 15th week, 4% happen between the 16th & 20th week, and 1% of all abortions (16,450/yr.) happen after the 20th week of pregnancy.

Likelihood of abortion:
An estimated 43% of all women will have at least 1 abortion by the time they are 45 years old. 47% of all abortions are performed on women who have had at least one previous abortion.

Abortion coverage:
48% of all abortion facilities provide services after the 12th week of pregnancy. 9 in 10 managed care plans routinely cover abortion or provide limited coverage. About 14% of all abortions in the United States are paid for with public funds, virtually all of which are state funds. 16 states (CA, CT, HI, ED, IL, MA , MD, MD, MN, MT, NJ, NM, NY, OR, VT, WA and WV) pay for abortions for some poor women.

Now the Adoption facts reflect with so many people longing to adopt why is abortion a choice?

The following adoption facts were obtained from the National Council for Adoption. To view the list in its entirity (with sources), visit the NCFA website at www.ncfa-usa.org/adoptioncontent.html

Babies, regardless of medical problems, who are "free for adoption,"generally do not wait long for families. There are waiting lists of couples who would like to adopt infants with Down Syndrome or Spina Bifida. The A K.I.D.S. Exchange reports that they have over 100 approved families waiting to adopt children with Down Syndrome. There are also a large number of couples who would like to adopt terminally ill babies, including babies with AIDS. ABC-TV's "20/20" reported that they had received over 25,000 self-addressed stamped envelopes from individuals wanting to adopt Romanian orphans. Over 10,000 people contacted NCFA after Parade Magazine's August 2, 1998, cover story on transracial adoption. (NCFA)

There are between one and two million infertile and fertile couples and individuals who would like to adopt children. According to a survey by the National Council For Adoption (NCFA) there were 54,492 unrelated adoptions (adoptions by people not related to the child adopted) of American children in 1996. (NCFA)

In addition, data from the Immigration and Naturalization Service and the U.S. Department of State indicate there were 17,000 foreign born children adopted by Americans in Fiscal Year 1999. International adoptions have been rising steadily from 6,536 in Fiscal Year 1992, the decade low-point, to the latest year, an all-time high. Additional adoptions by Americans may have taken place but not be counted in these numbers because the Americans adopted while living outside the U.S. (NCFA)

Of the 54,492 unrelated domestic adoptions, approximately one half (23,537) were adoptions of healthy infants (under 2 years of age) of all races and ethnic backgrounds. The remaining were older kids and children with "special needs" (physical, mental, or emotional disabilities, part of a sibling group, etc.) (NCFA)

Unrelated adoptions have fluctuated tremendously over the past three decades from 33,800 in 1951, to 61,600 in 1966, to a peak of 89,200 in 1970, declining to 47,700 in 1975, and then rising slightly to 50,720 in 1982, in 1986, 51,157, and in 1996, 54,492. (NCFA)State laws governing adoptions vary widely. In general, the birthparent(s) sign(s) a consent to the adoption or a relinquishment of parental rights. This consent or relinquishment is not legally binding prior to the birth of the child and can generally be revoked for a limited period of time after birth. The biological father of the child usually must be notified of any adoption plan, but procedures for this vary considerably. Separately, the prospective adoptive parents must file a petition to adopt. After a period of court supervision, usually six months to one year in length, during which the adoptive parents have custody of the child, the adoption is finalized. The adopted child then enjoys the legal footing in the family as a biological child. (NCFA)

A 1982 study found that unmarried birthmothers who made adoption plans were more likely to continue their education, were more likely to marry subsequently, and were less likely to receive public assistance than birthmothers who chose to parent their child born out-of-wedlock. (Bachrach) These findings were confirmed in another study in 1988 which found that women who chose adoption for their children had an educational advantage, were more likely to delay marriage, were more likely to be employed and have a higher income, less likely to have a repeat out-of-wedlock pregnancy, and less likely to abort if they do have a repeat out-of-wedlock pregnancy. (McLaughlin, 1988)

Adopted children enjoy more socio-economic advantages than children who remain with their unmarried birthmothers--they have better educated, older mothers, and they live in families with much higher incomes. (Bachrach, Marquis)

Pregnant teens who received services that provided counseling and information on adoption to all clients were almost seven times more likely to choose adoption than those who received services from a program where adoption was not addressed. Also, when the parents of teens were included in services, pregnant teens were six times more likely to choose adoption than when they were not involved. Pregnant teens who were asked to compare their lives if they parented, with their lives if they chose adoption, were six times more likely to choose adoption than those who did not make the comparisons. Teens involved with teen pregnancy programs, which had teen parents talk with pregnant clients, were four times less likely to choose adoption then teens who did not meet with teen parents. The interventions described above were more dramatic for black teens than for white teens. Researchers believe the reason may be that black teens and their families have less opportunity to be exposed to information on adoption because of societal and counselor assumptions that black teens are not interested in adoption for their children. (McLaughlin, 1991)

Only 1-2% of adopted adults "search" for their biological parents. (NCFA)A plan for adoption will be developed for approximately 22% of children entering the child welfare system. Therefore, there are about 110,000 children in the child welfare system who will be in need of adoptive families. The plan for the remaining 78% is for the children to return to their families or remain in long term foster care. (HHS)

In 1999, the estimated median age of children adopted from the public welfare system was 6.4 years, but the median age of children waiting to be adopted was 7.8 years. Two years and 6 months was the median length of time that these children were waiting to be adopted in 1999. Most of the children waiting to be adopted had some sort of special need. (HHS, NCFA)

State and federal adoption subsidy programs designed to assist parents with the costs of caring for a child with "special needs" are being paid to 81% of the children most recently adopted from the public foster care system. (HHS)

© Copyright 1998, The Alan Guttmacher Institute. (www.agi-usa.org)
© Copyright 1997, The Alan Guttmacher Institute. (www.agi-usa.org)
© Copyright 1995, Family Planning Perspectives
© Copyright 1988, Family Planning Perspectives