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Each year, more than 208 million pregnancies occur worldwide; 185 million occur in the developing world alone. Worldwide, almost two in five women who become pregnant have either an abortion or an unplanned birth.[24]

Worldwide, an estimated 358,000 women die from pregnancy-related causes each year, with about 355,000 of those deaths occurring in developing countries. The United States has one of the highest maternal mortality rates among developed countries (1,000 maternal deaths per year) and accounts for nearly 60% of all maternal deaths in the developed world.[25]

More than 40% of pregnancies worldwide are unintended. Roughly half of these pregnancies end in induced abortion. The proportion of unintended pregnancies ending in abortion is higher in more developed countries (53%) than in less developed countries (48%).[24]

About 6.7 million pregnancies occur in the United States each year.[26] Nearly two-thirds of all pregnancies result in live births and about one-fifth in abortion; the remainder end in miscarriage.[27]

Nearly half of all U.S. pregnancies are unintended (49%); about 43% of these end in abortion.[26]

Following a considerable decline in the overall U.S. unintended pregnancy rate between 1981 and 1994, the rate has remained essentially flat: About 5% of U.S. women still have an unintended pregnancy every year.[26]

In the United States, unintended pregnancy rates are higher among poor and low-income women, women aged 18–24, cohabiting women and minority women, compared with higher-income women, white women, college graduates and married women.[26]

More than half of pregnancies are unintended in 29 states and the District of Columbia. Rates of unintended pregnancy are generally highest in the South and Southwest, and in states with large urban populations.[28] And, in every state, the proportion of unintended pregnancies that were mistimed (65-75%) is much larger than the proportion that were unwanted (25-35%).

Unintended pregnancies cost U.S. taxpayers roughly $11 billion in public insurance expenditures for unplanned births and first-year infant health care.[29]

California and Texas spend the most money on births that result from unintended pregnancies—about $1.3 billion annually—while North Dakota spends the least—$21 million.[29]