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CDC’s Abortion Surveillance System: FAQs |
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When did CDC start collecting abortion data?
CDC began abortion surveillance in 1969 to document the number and
characteristics of women obtaining legal induced abortions. CDC’s
surveillance system counts legal induced abortions only.
How does CDC define abortion?
For surveillance purposes, legal abortion is defined as a procedure
performed by a licensed physician or someone acting under the supervision of
a licensed physician to induce the termination of a pregnancy.
Are states required to report their abortion statistics to CDC?
No, states and areas voluntarily report data to CDC for report
preparation. CDC's Division of Reproductive Health prepares surveillance
reports as data becomes available. There is no national requirement for data
submission or reporting. For more detailed information, we recommend you
review the CDC/NCHS document,
Handbook on the
Reporting of Induced Termination of Pregnancy.
(PDF–2.5MB)
Source: NCHS.
How is the report prepared and formatted?
Preparing the Abortion Surveillance Reports is based on the data available
from all states and areas
that cooperate in reporting
for a given calendar year. In addition, ample time is required to perform
the analyses that produce the tables, charts, and the narrative
describing trends and methods. Please view the abstract and methods portion
of the most recent
Abortion Surveillance Report for more information on compilation of the
report.
Some states now report
the use of medical abortions. These are abortion procedures using medications
instead of surgery. Therefore, we adapted our system to include a separate
category for medical abortions. The number of states and localities
reporting this information is increasing each year. As we receive reliable
data on medical abortion, we will provide it in the surveillance reports.
How is the Abortion Surveillance Report used?
We understand the report is used by many in the field of public health. Some
have mentioned they use the report to—
- Identify characteristics of women who are at high risk of unintended
pregnancy,
- Monitor trends in the number, ratio, and rate of abortions by state
or region of the country,
- Compare trends in this nation with those of other countries.
For example, demographers use information in the report to calculate
pregnancy rates, which are combined estimates of births and fetal loss.
Managers of public health programs use this data to evaluate the
programs' effectiveness to prevent unintended pregnancy. There have
historically been other data uses; such as, the calculation of the
mortality rate of specific abortion procedures. Policymakers and program
planners also use these data to improve the health and well-being of women
and infants. Surveillance systems such as this one continue to provide data
necessary to examine trends in public health.
Can I obtain a public use dataset for my own analysis?
No public use dataset is available. To obtain data for this surveillance
system, CDC assures states and areas that we will maintain strict
confidentiality of data provided to us. For other data sources and estimates, we suggest using the
MEDLINE/PubMed or MedlinePlus bibliographic reference service of the National
Library of Medicine.
Abortion Surveillance Reports
Abortion Surveillance—United
States, 2005 |
View PDF
1.3MB
In 2005, 820,151 legal induced abortions were reported to CDC from 49
reporting areas. This total represents a 2.3% decrease from the 839,226
abortions reported for 2004. The abortion ratio for 2005 decreased since
2004. The ratio was 233 legal induced abortions per 1,000 live births in
2005. In 2005, the abortion rate was 15 per 1,000 women aged 15–44 years of
age, the same since 2000. For the same 46 reporting areas, the abortion rate
remained relatively constant during 1998–2005. As in the past, a higher
number of abortions were obtained by white women, unmarried women, and women
under 25 years of age. More than half (62%) of the reported legal induced
abortions were performed during the first 8 weeks of gestation; 88% were
performed within the first 12 weeks of pregnancy. Source: MMWR
2008;57(SS-13);1–32.
Previous MMWR Abortion Surveillance Reports
2004 |
2003 |
2002 |
2001 |
2000 |
1999 |
1998 |
1997 |
1996 |
1995 |
1994–1993
1992 |
1991 |
1990 |
1989 |
1988 |
1987– 1986 |
1985–1984 |
1981
1980–1979
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Page last reviewed: 12/2/08
Page last modified: 12/2/08
Content source:
Division of Reproductive Health,
National Center for Chronic
Disease Prevention and Health Promotion |
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