Talk:Abortion statistics in the United States

Added Table
Table contains important and useful information as well as totals. Why this was removed in the first place is beyond comprehension. 67.163.219.210 (talk) 13:47, 30 September 2021 (UTC)

Table
The table should have the default sort as increasing rather than decreasing years. -- Alan Liefting (talk) - 22:59, 14 May 2011 (UTC)

Unless somebody complains, I plan to replace the table of CDC abortion data with graphs. I have already added graphs of CDC abortion rate data and Guttmacher Institute abortion rate data. For number of abortions and abortion ratios, I plan to just use Guttmacher data, because it is more complete than CDC data. Thiesen (talk) 17:09, 14 December 2020 (UTC)

To be honest, I'm quite annoyed that you didn't tag me in your plan; I have spent quite some effort last year to add the CDC abortion rates to the table. Of course, I appreciate the graphs, but having the underlying data is better, they should not have been removed (How is someone else supposed to get the data now? One of the reasons I updated the table was to have an easy way to create my own graphs by scraping the table from wikipedia: https://www.reddit.com/r/dataisbeautiful/comments/h7mgc4/oc_abortion_rate_and_ratio_over_time_us_vs_nl). Can you please revert your edits that removed the table (and their references)? Gaburger (talk) 20:23, 22 January 2021 (UTC)

Should include stats on total abortions in US
The CDC stats only include selected states. Should add a column for the estimates based on survey from all states - Guttmacher. Zodon (talk) 02:44, 21 August 2011 (UTC)

Why does the total shown equal 48 million? The data in the column only adds to 41 million. Modifying in 3 days unless an explanation is forthcoming. Redshield3 (talk) 16:17, 22 January 2013 (UTC)

Sum is incorrect
According to my spreadsheet, sum of the numbers in the table is 44.627.505, not 51,888,303. Should be corrected. 2A02:8109:85C0:14A4:EC10:1F6D:76B3:5A63 (talk) 10:53, 11 March 2017 (UTC)

The sum was something in the low sixties. I calculated a new sum of 44,498,750. Someone could check the figure for each year (which I did not do, except for 2014, which I added), and then redo the arithmetic to make sure that we are finally adding right. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 98.118.163.103 (talk) 17:57, 21 December 2017 (UTC)

Putting numbers in perspective
Since I see that article referenced in discussion about abortion, it might be beneficial to relate the numbers to other countries, and to also add what is usually cited as abortion rate, i.e. abortion per 1000 women aged between 15 and 44. Comparing abortions to number of live births distorts the picture, because obviously not every non-aborted pregnancy ends with a live birth, and the rate of miscarriage would not be stable since 1970. Also, 90% of abortions happen before week 13, where miscarriage is even more likely, but that is not factored into the comparison. It might be viable to compare number of abortions to number of pregnancies, but of course that number is unknown, so abortion rate is the way to go here. Also, a disclaimer should be added that numbers from 1970-1993 are from OCR's documents, and may contain errors. Will change that in a couple of days if there's no argued objection.

2A02:8109:85C0:14A4:EC10:1F6D:76B3:5A63 (talk) 11:16, 11 March 2017 (UTC)

2017-present
Why are there no statistics since 2017?Musanim (talk) 23:21, 19 September 2020 (UTC)

The CDC has not released 2017 data yet. WikiforPH (talk) 16:29, 21 September 2020 (UTC)

I have added the data through 2018 from the CDC, and through 2017 from the Guttmacher Institute. This is the latest available data. Thiesen (talk) 07:52, 15 December 2020 (UTC)

Graphs highlighting Republican/Democratic FEDERAL administrations
Thank you for generating these graphs which show the numbers MUCH better than the tables!!! Great work!!

But I'm wondering why you highlight the R/D FEDERAL level administrations in these graphs...this seems like Original Research WP:OR to me unless there are any sources saying that this is important. While it would make sense that easier access to birth control would make for less abortions, (policies pursued by Democratic adminstrations) there are a myriad of other complexities at the state levels which might have a greater effect on access to/affordability of birth control and abortion which could have a greater influence on these numbers. To show these graphs as they are now is to lead the reader to a conclusion which might not be warranted.

(For the record, I support free (government funded) birth control and abortion.)

I'd say that the graphs are fine for now, but when they get re-done with the next year's data, they shouldn't be highlighting the different R/D administrations unless you can find a source which says that these are believed to influence the abortion rate.

Thanks again! --- Avatar317 (talk) 00:54, 17 December 2020 (UTC)


 * I feel like the statement that Republican Administrations tend to see smaller decreases in abortion rates is explanatory enough and the graphs are too much. I would bet even someone who is staunchly pro-abortion would agree the graphs are overkill. Stryker Genesis (talk) 11:54, 27 April 2021 (UTC)


 * Thanks for your comment. I plan to address what causes changes in abortion rates over time, but probably elsewhere, because that does not seem to be within the scope of this article. Currently, I know of evidence I can cite that the Mexico City policy increases the abortion rate, that access to contraception (unsurprisingly) reduces the abortion rate, and that abstinence-only sex education has no effect on teen sexual behavior, but comprehensive sex education that recommends abstinence but also discusses contraception leads to more use of contraception. In every case, the policy favored by Democrats leads to fewer unwanted pregnancies, and therefore fewer abortions.


 * At the state level, Republican legislatures have passed many laws making abortions more difficult to obtain in their states. These laws seem to have some effect, but I can cite evidence that changes in state laws are not the primary drivers of changes in abortion rates. For reasons I do not understand, there are vast differences in abortion rates between states, reasons that can't possibly have anything to do with federal laws and have little to do with state laws.


 * I have reread WP:OR and I may seek advice in the future if I have doubts about whether my edits are free of original research. Thiesen (talk) 06:59, 18 December 2020 (UTC)
 * It seems to me this question is important, as many people make the argument that we should vote for president purely based on outward support for abortion restrictions. One of many examples that could be cited is [this]. Obviously, one doesn't need to shading to make the point, but it seems appropriate as a clarification since many people argue that exact point. Also, is this really original research? The question of whether each year had a Democratic or Republican president has been pretty widely reported. Fool4jesus (talk) 16:04, 12 January 2021 (UTC)
 * @Thiesen Including the political dimension here seems a little weird. I would totally be for it if the plots showed a clear correlation between politics and abortion stats, but it doesn't look like they do. Maybe if you know there's a very solid correlation and have a reference it would make sense for us to figure out a better way to show that correlation. But if it's as iffy as it looks then I'm for removing the political color code on the line plots and cutting the political bar chart entirely. Uhoj (talk) 02:45, 1 March 2024 (UTC)


 * As one of the contributors to the table (see my previous comment), I think adding the administration in the graphs (no doubt also inspired by reddit (eg https://www.reddit.com/r/dataisbeautiful/comments/h0ycwx/oc_usa_abortion_rate_by_president/), unnecessarily politicizes the subject even further, so I would prefer graphs without the administration. I think having the table with the raw numbers is important so that everyone can make their own graphs/analysis, for their own (political?) purpose. Gaburger (talk) 20:31, 22 January 2021 (UTC)
 * I agree. National administration is a nebulous indicator - what about State legislatures and governors? Economic factors? What about administrations who do not have a Congressional majority?  For example, according to the graph, the rate seems to drop during the Clinton Administration, but Bill Clinton faced a Republican Congress and impeachment and was politically astute enough to not pick un-winnable battles. 47.13.110.177 (talk) 02:56, 8 May 2022 (UTC)

Abortion ratio not consistent.
The denominator used in the abortion ratio calculation is not consistent. It starts out as "per 100 live births (or pregnancies that end in abortions or live births)" and then switches to "per 1000...". Critically, it changes between the description of table 1 and table 1 itself, making it look like there are ~183 abortions per 100 pregnancies. 68.0.132.132 (talk) 22:01, 7 July 2022 (UTC)


 * The Guttmacher Institute and the CDC define abortion ratio differently. Does this address your concern? Thiesen (talk) 16:20, 19 July 2022 (UTC)
 * That IP wasn't me, but I'd like to thank you for your improvements/clarifications regarding the above issue in the article, which seemed confusing to me, but I didn't take the time to sort it out. The article definitely seems more understandable now. Thanks! --- Avatar317 (talk) 21:33, 19 July 2022 (UTC)

Wiki Education assignment: Foundations of Feminism
— Assignment last updated by Taeganbyers (talk) 00:47, 3 April 2023 (UTC)