ABORTION STATISTICS & POLLS.

In 1999, a total of 861,789 legal induced abortions were reported to CDC [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] by 48 reporting areas [excluding Alaska, California, New Hampshire, and Oklahoma]. This represents a 2.5% decrease from 1998. In 1999, of women who obtained abortions, 52% were known to have obtained an abortion for the first time. [Forty-five percent were known to have had one or more previous abortions, and 19% had had two or more previous abortions. The history of 3% is unknown.]

--CDC, "Abortion Surveillance-- United States, 1999," Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, Nov. 29, 2002, Vol. 51, No. SS-9, p. 3 & 4.

[According to a Zogby International poll, November 12-14, 2002] about 22 percent said they were less in favor of abortion today than they were a decade ago. About half that number said they were more in favor of it. Nationwide, one-third of people ages 18 to 29 said abortion should never be legal. That contrasts with about 23 percent for those ages 30 to 64, and about 20 percent for those over age 65. [O]nly about 4 percent nationwide said they always vote for pro-choice candidates. About 13 percent nationally said they always vote for anti-abortion candidates.

It is worth highlighting that in July 1996, coincident with the emergence of a new national debate over partial-birth abortion, Gallup recorded a significant drop in the number of Americans saying abortion should be legal in all cases. Since then, the percentage favoring unrestricted abortions has averaged just 25%, down from about 33% in the previous five years.

--Gallup Poll Special Reports, "Public Opinion About Abortion--An In-Depth Review," 1/22/2002

The most recent abortion statistics compiled by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) confirm trends that have been visible for several years.

The number of abortions peaked in 1990. In that year, there were about 1.61 million abortions, according to reports of abortion providers to Planned Parenthood's Alan Guttmacher Institute (AGI), or about 1.43 million, according to incomplete health agency reports to the CDC. The numbers have steadily declined since then. From 1998 to 1999, the number of abortions reported to the CDC declined 2.5%.