| TABLE 1. Percentage distribution of U.S. women obtaining legal abortions, by selected characteristics, various years |
| Characteristic |
1972 |
1980 |
1990 |
1999 |
| (N=586,760) |
(N=1,297,606) |
(N=1,429,577) |
(N=861,789)* |
| Race |
| White |
77.0 |
69.9 |
64.8 |
56.2 |
| Nonwhite |
23.0 |
30.1 |
35.2 |
43.8 |
| Marital status |
| Married |
29.7 |
23.1 |
21.7 |
19.2 |
| Unmarried |
70.3 |
76.9 |
78.3 |
80.8 |
| State where abortion occurred |
| Woman's home state |
56.2 |
92.6 |
91.8 |
91.2 |
| Another state |
43.8 |
7.4 |
8.2 |
8.8 |
| Age |
| <19 |
32.6 |
29.2 |
22.4 |
19.2 |
| 20-24 |
32.5 |
35.5 |
33.2 |
32.2 |
| >=25 |
34.9 |
35.3 |
44.4 |
48.6 |
| Weeks of gestation |
| <8 |
34.0 |
51.7 |
51.6 |
57.6 |
| 9-10 |
30.7 |
26.2 |
25.3 |
20.2 |
| 11-12 |
17.5 |
12.3 |
11.7 |
10.2 |
| 13-15 |
8.4 |
5.1 |
6.4 |
6.2 |
| 16-20 |
8.2 |
3.9 |
4.0 |
4.3 |
| >=21 |
1.3 |
0.9 |
1.0 |
1.5 |
| Total |
100.0 |
100.0 |
100.0 |
100.0 |
| *Excludes an estimated 273,000 women from Alaska, California, New Hampshire and Oklahoma. Source: L.D. Elam-Evans et al., 2002 (reference 11). |
