At a glance
Find reports and data from CDC's Abortion Surveillance System.
Findings and Reports
In 2022, 613,383 legal induced abortions were reported to CDC from 48 reporting areas. Among 47 reporting areas with data each year during 2013–2022, in 2022, a total of 609,360 abortions were reported, the abortion rate was 11.2 abortions per 1,000 women aged 15–44 years, and the abortion ratio was 199 abortions per 1,000 live births.
Among 47 reporting areas with data each year during 2013–2022, from 2021 to 2022, the number of abortions decreased 2%, the abortion rate decreased 3%, and the abortion ratio decreased 2%. From 2013 to 2022, the number of abortions decreased 5%, the rate decreased 10%, and the ratio increased 1%.
Similar to previous years, in 2022, women in their twenties accounted for more than half of abortions (56.5%). Nearly all abortions in 2022 took place early in gestation: 92.8% of abortions were performed at ≤13 weeks' gestation; a smaller number of abortions (6.1%) were performed at 14–20 weeks' gestation, and even fewer (1.1%) were performed at ≥21 weeks' gestation. Early medication abortion is defined as the administration of medication(s) to induce an abortion at ≤9 completed weeks' gestation, consistent with the current Food and Drug Administration labeling for mifepristone (implemented in 2016). In 2022, 53.3% of all abortions were early medication abortions. Use of early medication abortion increased 4% from 2021 to 2022 and 129% from 2013 to 2022.
Available Data
Besides the data available in the annual Abortion Surveillance report, data are also available for abortions distributed by area of residence and area of clinical service. These data are consistent with data reported to CDC for each year's Abortion Surveillance report. No additional data are available for public use. For other abortion data, search the National Library of Medicine's MEDLINE/PubMed or MedlinePlus bibliographic reference.