Return to HOME PAGE...Welcome to TENNESSEE RIGHT TO LIFE dot ORG...Return to HOME PAGE...
Human Life Issues...

 

Return to Human Life Issues MENU...


ABORTION STATISTICS
Click here for Tennessee's statistics, below.

Do You Know The Hard Facts About Abortion In America?

  • Do You Know? That due to the radical scope of Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton, a right to abortion was effectively established for the entire term of pregnancy for virtually any reason, whether for sake of personal finances, social convenience, or individual lifestyle...Therefore, no significant legal barriers of any kind whatsoever exist in the United States for a woman to obtain an abortion for any reason during any stage of her pregnancy.
  • Do You Know? At 22 days after conception, a baby's heart is already beating.
  • Do You Know? At 6 weeks, brain waves can be measured. At 8 weeks, the stomach, liver, and kidneys are functioning, and fingerprints have formed. At 9 weeks, the unborn child can feel pain.
  • Do You Know? That 700,000 abortions are performed each year in America after 9 weeks into the pregnancy.
  • Do You Know? The overwhelming majority of all abortions, 93%, are done as a means of birth control. Only 1% are performed because of rape or incest; 3% because of fetal abnormalities; 3% due to the mother's health problems.

Do You Know?
For every two babies born
another baby dies in an abortion.

That's 1.2 million babies each year;
That's over 3,300 babies every day;
That's 1 baby every 25 seconds;
That's over 50 million babies since 1973;
And that's just here in America...

 
United States Abortion Statistics
Note: For more information concerning US abortion statistics, visit the Centers for Disease Control at http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/drh/surv_abort.htm.

Except when noted, the following statistics are based on research published by the Alan Guttmacher Institute, special research affiliate of Planned Parenthood Federation of America--the nation's largest provider and promoter of abortion. AGI has not published detailed figures on the total number of abortions since 1992, though it did give an estimate of 1,435,000 abortions for 1994 to USA Today in August of 1996. Estimates for 1993 and 1995 through 1999 are based on trends from previous years.

In the past, AGI has estimated a possible 3-6% rate of underreporting. The following table uses the lower, unadjusted numbers.

Year

Annual Number of Abortions

1973
1974
1975
1976
1977
1978
1979
1980
1981
1982
1983
1984
1985
1986
1987
1988
1989
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996

1997

1998

1999

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

744,600
898,600
1,034,200
1,179,300
1,316,700
1,409,600
1,497,700
1,553,900
1,577,300
1,573,900
1,575,000
1,577,200
1,588,600
1,574,000
1,559,100
1,590,800
1,566,900
1,608,600
1,556,500
1,528,900
1,495,000
1,423,000
1,359,400

1,360,160

1,335,000

1,319,000

1,314,800

1,312,990

1,303,000 estimate

1,293,000 estimate

1,287,000 estimate

1,287,000 estimate

1,206,200

2005 Abortion Total

48,589,993**


Source for statistics for 1973 through 1992: Stanley K. Henshaw, et al., "Abortions Services in the United States, 1991 and 1992," Family Planning Perspectives, vol.26, no.3 (May/June 1994), p.101.

* 1993-1996 AGI Abortion Provider Survey, Alan Guttmacher Institute.

* 1997 - 2005 National Right to Life Committee, www.nrlc.org/abortion/facts/abortionstats.html.

** Using AGI statistics and factoring in a possible 3% undercount the Alan Guttmacher Institute estimates for its own figures, National Right to Life Committee, www.nrlc.org/abortion/facts/abortionstats.html.

Tennessee Statistics

An average of 18,430 abortions were performed in Tennessee per year between 1992 and 1996, according to statistics reported by the Alan Guttmacher Institute.

State Abortion Statistics According to Tennessee Department of Health:

Year

Annual Number of Abortions

1978
1979
1980
1981
1982
1983
1984
1985
1986
1987
1988
1989
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001

2002
2003

2004

2005

15,015
18,713
19,066
17,744
16,847
16,892
17,295
17,432
18,128
17,641
17,748
17,126
17,464
16,501
15,131
14,534
15,668
16,582
16,153
16,557
15,650
15,286
15,775
15,488

15,115
14,933

13,902

13,162

2005 Abortion Total

457,578


Note: These numbers reflect only abortions performed on women residing in Tennessee. The number of women from neighboring states obtaining abortions in our state is significant. 

Tennessee Abortion Laws and Status

Informed Consent for Women Seeking Abortions
Women seeking abortions shall be provided accurate information including the age of her unborn child; that abortion is a major surgical procedure, that public and private agencies exist to assist her including adoption alternatives; and details regarding any inherent risks in the procedure. (1978, TCA 39-15-202) 

(Challenged in Planned Parenthood vs. Sundquist. Planned Parenthood and ACLU argue that the Tennessee Constitution provides a broad right to abortion that renders most such protections 'unconstitutional' Case was heard by the Tennessee Supreme Court in October 1999. Click here for more information about the Supreme Court's decision. The pro-abortionists won their suit, and many of the following protections are thereby lost. The full consequences of their decision still remain to be seen.) 

Abortionist must provide accurate information rather than any other clinic employee (1978, TCA 39-15-202)

Waiting Period
48 hour waiting period required from time woman meets with abortionist until the abortion is performed (1978, TCA 39-15-202)

(Challenged in Planned Parenthood vs. Sundquist)

Parental Consent
Unemancipated minor must obtain the consent of one parent or legal guardian. If the parent or guardian refuse or the minor feels they cannot seek the parent's consent, the minor may petition a county court for judicial bypass. (Parental Consent) (1995, TCA 37-10-3037)

(Challenged by Planned Parenthood, and upheld as constitutional by Federal 6th Circuit Court of Appeals, 2000)

Clinic Regulation
Abortion clinics must meet health and safety standards and carry two million dollars in medical malpractice insurance. Clinic administrators and owners must meet strict educational, medical and character requirements. (1989, TCA 68-11-223) (Not presently enforced considering The Women's Center abortion clinic in Nashville continues to operate without a required certificate of need (con) or state medical license.)

Abortions after 14 weeks must be performed in a hospital (1973,TCA 39-15-201)

(Challenged in Planned Parenthood vs. Sundquist) 

Abortion Reporting
Abortionists must report each abortion to the Department of Health. Records and reports must remain confidential. (1973, TCA 39-15-203)

(Health Department officials have recently interpreted this law to forbid the public release of
statistics by facility. Thus there is no available record of how many abortions are performed by 
any given abortionist or clinic in Tennessee.) 

Conscience Clauses and Abortion
No physician, hospital or medical person shall be required to participate in the performance of an abortion. (1973, TCA 39-15-204) 

Abortion Survivors
Any child born alive during an abortion must be cared for by clinic staff. (1978, TCA 39-15-206)

Mothers Consent
Use or sale of aborted children without consent is banned (1978, TCA 9-15-208)

Partial-Birth Abortion
Practice of Partial-birth abortion banned. (1997, TCA 39-15-209)

(Rendered unconstitutional due to U.S. Supreme Court ruling, June 2000 in Stenberg vs. Carhart.) 

Tax Dollars for Abortion
Public funding for abortion permitted only to save the life of the mother or if the pregnancy resulted from rape or incest. (1981) 

(Funding is apparently not restricted, however, to facilities or institutions which perform abortion or fetal tissue harvesting/ research. Attempts to tighten pro-life budget language have been strenuously opposed and turned back by pro-abortion activists in the state House of Representatives.) 

Human Life Amendment
In 1980 Tennessee became the 16th state to pass a resolution calling for a Constitutional Convention for the drafting of a Human Life Amendment.