Are you IN THE KNOW?

When performed under proper medical conditions by trained personnel in a hygienic setting, abortion is an extremely safe procedure. Fewer than 1% of all U.S. abortion patients experience a major complication and the risk of death associated with abortion is 10 times as low as that associated with childbirth. (34)  However, when the procedure is performed by an unskilled person, or in an environment not conducive to safe medical circumstances, it is considered unsafe. The risk of death associated with unsafe abortion worldwide is 30 deaths per 100,000 live births.[35]

Almost half of all abortions that occur worldwide—about 22 million in 2008—are unsafe.[35] Between 2003 and 2008, the global unsafe abortion rate remained unchanged at 14 per 1,000 women aged 15–44 years. The highest rate of unsafe procedures—36 per 1,000 women—was in Eastern and Middle Africa.

The rate of unsafe abortion in developing regions is 16 times that in developed regions.[35] Unsafe abortions are rare in developed regions because the procedure is widely legal and therefore likely to be performed under safe conditions; in developing regions, where abortion is largely illegal, more than half of all abortions are unsafe.[30]

Complications from unsafe abortion account for an estimated 13% of maternal deaths worldwide, some 47,000 annually.[35] An estimated five million women are hospitalized each year for treatment of abortion-related complications.[36]

In 2007, six women in the United States were reported to have died as a result of abortion complications.[37]

For two decades, the highest quality scientific evidence available has led to the conclusion that having an abortion does not cause mental health problems for most women.  A woman’s mental health before she faces an unwanted pregnancy is the best indicator of her likely mental health after an abortion. [38]