Get "In the Know": Questions About Pregnancy, Contraception and Abortion

Abortion Providers

What types of facilities provide abortions in the United States?

• Abortions are performed at clinics (833 nationwide, representing 46% of providers), hospitals (603, representing 33% of providers) and physicians’ offices (383, representing 21% of providers). (36)

Where are most abortions performed?

• The vast majority of U.S. abortions (93%) are performed at clinics. The remaining procedures take place at hospitals (5% of abortions) and physicians’ offices (2% of abortions). (36)

Is the number of abortion providers falling?

• Yes. There were 1,819 abortion providers in 2000, down 11% from 1996. Moreover, the number of providers fell 14% between 1992 and 1996. (36)

Which states have the fewest abortion providers?

• As of 2000, Kentucky, Mississippi, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah, West Virginia and Wyoming each had five or fewer abortion providers. More than 95% of counties in Arkansas, Kansas, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota and West Virginia have no abortion provider. Only Hawaii has an abortion provider in every county. (36)

How early in pregnancy do providers offer abortions?

• In 2001, 37% of providers offered either medical or surgical abortion services at four weeks’ gestation or earlier (i.e., four weeks from the woman’s last menstrual period), up from 7% in 1993. (31)

How late in pregnancy do providers offer abortions?

• Some 97% of providers offer abortions at eight weeks, and 86% do so at 12 weeks; but provision drops off steeply after that. The proportion of providers offering abortion at 20 weeks increased from 22% in 1993 to 33% in 2001. (31)

Why are more providers offering abortions at earlier gestations?

• The use of new technologies (such as high-resolution ultrasound) increase the success rate of early surgical abortions without elevating risks, and an increasing number of providers are performing such early abortions. In addition, with the introduction of early medical abortion, women have been given another early option. (37)

How hard is it for U.S. women to reach an abortion provider?

• Eighty-seven percent of U.S. counties have no abortion provider; a third of women aged 15–44 live in those counties. Nearly one in four women obtaining an abortion travel more than 50 miles to reach a provider, and 8% travel more than 100 miles. (31) It is not known how many women are unable to obtain an abortion because of distance from a provider.

What proportion of abortion providers experience harassment?

• In 2000, 56% of all nonhospital providers, and 82% of those providing 400 or more abortions per year, experienced some kind of harassment. (31)

What types of harassment do abortion providers experience? Picketing is the most common type: Eighty percent of large providers have experienced picketing. Other, more severe forms of harassment, such as physical contact and vandalism (e.g., jammed locks or other physical damage), have declined over the past decade. (31)

Has antiabortion activity around clinic sites been partially responsible for the decline in abortion rates?

• Although antiabortion activity has probably affected some women seeking abortions, and provider harassment in general has probably hampered some providers’ ability to offer services, harassment does not appear to have had a large impact on the abortion rate. (31)

This resource was produced with support from the David and Lucille Packard Foundation and the Roth Family Foundation.