Facts about Ohio’s abortion rate

The Ohio Department of Health’s 2017 Annual Abortion Report presents information derived from both the “Confidential Abortion Reports” and “Post-Abortion Care Reports for Complications” in Ohio. 

Readers should note that abortion statistics in this report are limited to terminations occurring in Ohio; they do not include Ohio residents who obtained abortions outside the state. 

Induced abortion statistics have been prepared in Ohio since 1976. Several trend comparisons in the 2017 Annual Abortion Report date back to 2003. A total of 20,893 induced pregnancy terminations were reported in Ohio for 2017, including 19,615 obtained by Ohio resident women (93.9%). This represents a 1% increase in induced pregnancy terminations from 2016 to 2017. Overall, since 2001 there has been a steady decline in terminations. When examined from 2001 to 2017, the annual decline averaged approximately 830 per year 

Approximately one in ten women who obtained abortions in 2017 were under 20 years of age, with another one-third between the ages of 20-24 years of age. 

While the age distribution of women obtaining abortions has remained relatively unchanged since 2001, the age-specific abortion rates for women under age 25 have steadily decreased. Approximately 85% of women with known marital status who obtained abortions were never married, divorced, or widowed. Fifteen percent of women who obtained abortions and whose marital status was known were married or separated. 

Forty-nine percent of resident women who obtained abortions and for whom race was reported were White; 44% were African American; 4% were Asian/ Pacific Islander; and 4% reported more than one race (Figure 2). Five percent of women with known ethnicity who obtained abortions were of Hispanic origin. 

The 2017 Ohio abortion rate was 8.9 per 1,000 resident women ages 15-44 years old; unchanged from the rate in 2016. The 2017 Ohio resident abortion ratio was 144 abortions per 1,000 live births; slightly increased from the ratio in 2016. 

More than half of all induced abortions involved pregnancies of less than nine weeks (56%), with approximately 29% involving pregnancies of nine to 12 weeks. The proportion involving abortions of less than nine weeks increased from 49% in 1997, while the proportion between nine and 12 weeks declined from 35% to 29%. There were 454 abortions in 2017 involving pregnancies of 19 or more completed weeks of gestation. That represents a decrease from the 508 reported in 2016. The abortion reporting form requests method used to determine gestational age: ultrasound was used in 92% of cases. The vast majority of reported abortions were obtained in six major metropolitan areas of Ohio. 

Curettage was the most used method of termination in 2017 (58%). That method has decreased since 2001, when 87% of terminations were by curettage. Mifepristone was reported as the medication for non-surgical termination for 5,279 abortions, followed by 489 terminations using misoprostol, and 40 terminations using methotrexate.

View the full report and many more details HERE.

Also READ this discussion of abortion laws under the U.S. Constitution and any restrictions by individual states in Wikipedia.