Tag Archives: abortion

Unplanned Pregnancy By State Across the United States

2013_09_UnintendedPrenancies

Nearly half of the total 6.7 million of pregnancies taken place in the United States every year are unintended pregnancies. Although the unintended pregnancy rate has remained relatively constant in the last three decades, the rate among poor women has seen a dramatic increase, especially in the South, and in cities with a large population.

Public funds are used to cover the huge cost of such unintended pregnancies. Avoiding unintended pregnancies though the funding of public family planning centers constitutes a better use of those funds. In 2008, $1.9 billion were destined to fund public family planning centers across the U.S., which resulted in savings of $7 billion, resources that would have been used to cover for the unintended pregnancies otherwise.

Source: The Huffington Post: The Geography Of Unintended Pregnancy (INFOGRAPHIC)

 

The World’s Abortion Laws by Country

world abortion laws 2013Latin American countries along with countries in the Middle East and Africa have the most restrictive abortion laws.

According to this map by the Center for Reproductive Rights, in countries like Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, Venezuela, Syria, Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, Yemen, Oman, Egypt, Libya, Indonesia, etc. (shown in red) abortions are allowed in some cases only to save a woman’s life, or in most cases they are banned altogether.

In general, most developed nations have less restrictive abortion laws, although some 12 states in the U.S. have passed more restrictive laws banning abortion after 20 weeks of gestation.

 

U.S. Abortion Laws by State

abortion laws by stateMost states (in orange) ban abortions during the last trimester of pregnancy when the fetus is already viable outside the womb.

However, since the state of Nebraska passed the most restrictive abortion law in a decade back in 2010 banning abortions after 20 weeks, 12 other states have passed similar laws as of March 2013. States that have passed even more restrictive abortion laws include North Dakota, that bans abortions afters 6 weeks of pregnancy, and Arkansas that bans abortions after 12 weeks.

For the interactive map, please visit: The Washington Post: The landscape of abortion bans, in one must-see map