Over 1,000,000 abortions occur in the United States each year, and over 45,000,000 abortions are estimated to have been performed since the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision in 1973. 

In light of these staggering numbers, where does our nation stand today on abortion?  That depends on what question you are asking.

If you wonder what Americans think about abortion being legal, the answer is that we are a nation divided.  Polling over the years since Roe v. Wade, and particularly in the last couple decades, show a sharp and steady divide between those who identify themselves as "pro-choice" and those who identify themselves as "pro-life."  A similar split is noticeable between those who believe abortion should be legal in all or most circumstances and those who would like abortion to be legal under no or few circumstances.  (Helpful polling data is available from Gallup and the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life).

If, however, you would like to know how Americans feel about abortion, the answer is quite different.  According to a September 2008 Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life publication, “most Americans (73 percent) believe that abortion is morally wrong in nearly all (24 percent) or some (49 percent) circumstances.”  Americans who may not see eye to eye on abortion generally may still share a deep troubling in their spirits over the termination of so many prenatal lives in this country.

In short, a vast majority of Americans are uncomfortable with the status quo for abortion in the United States.


Some additional figures of note about abortion in America today: 

• Approximately half of all pregnancies are unplanned, and more than 40 percent of these 3 million unplanned pregnancies are aborted.  This accounts for the vast majority of America’s abortions every year.*

• Fifty percent of U.S. women obtaining abortions are younger than 25.  Women aged 20–24 obtain 33 percent of all abortions, and teenagers obtain 17percent.**

• About 2 percent of women aged 15-44 have an abortion each year, and 47 percent of them have had at least one previous abortion.**

• At the current rate, about one-third of American women will have had an abortion by age 45.**

• Women who have never married obtain two-thirds of all abortions.**

• About 60 percent of abortions are obtained by women who have one or more children.**

• Prenatal diagnoses of some conditions such as Down syndrome result in abortion in up to 90 percent of such situations. ***

• Seventy-seven percent of evangelicals think abortion is morally wrong and another 5 percent say it depends on the situation. ****

• Nearly 9 out of every 10 evangelicals believe abortion is a serious problem in our country and that it should be an important priority for our nation to work together to reduce the number of abortions. ****

• A significant majority of evangelicals support a wide range of possible methods for decreasing the abortion rate - from parental consent and waiting periods before abortions to efforts at making adoption, pre- & post-natal care, and contraceptive services more accessible. ****

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* “Briefly… Unplanned Pregnancy in the United States.” The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy. http://www.thenationalcampaign.org/resources/pdf/briefly-unplanned-in-the-united-states.pdf. May 2008.
** “Briefly… Facts on Induced Abortion in the United States.” Guttmacher Institute. http://www.alanguttmacher.org/pubs/fb_induced_abortion.html. July 2008
*** Mansfield et al. “Termination rates after prenatal diagnosis of Down syndrome, spina bifida, anencephaly, and Turner and Klinefelter syndromes: a systematic literature review.” PubMed http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10521836.  September 1999.
**** Gallup telephone survey of 1,000 evangelicals, ages 18-95, from July 7 – Aug 1, 2009.  Evangelicals were identified by denominational affiliation, church attendance at least once a month, accepting Jesus Christ as Savior and affirming the Bible as the written word of God and a guide for life.  This poll has an overall margin of error of ±3.1%.