At a glance
Find frequently asked questions, data, reports, and findings from CDC's Abortion Surveillance System.
When did CDC abortion surveillance start?
CDC began abortion surveillance in 1969 to document the number and characteristics of women obtaining legal induced abortions. Many states and jurisdiction conduct abortion surveillance. This information is voluntarily reported to CDC. CDC’s surveillance system compiles the information from states and jurisdictions on legal induced abortions.
How does CDC define abortion?
For the purpose of surveillance, a legal induced abortion is defined as "an intervention performed by a licensed clinician (for instance, a physician, nurse-midwife, nurse practitioner, physician assistant) within the limits of state regulations, that is intended to terminate a suspected or known ongoing intrauterine pregnancy and that does not result in a live birth." This definition excludes management of intrauterine fetal death, early pregnancy failure/loss, ectopic pregnancy, or retained products of conception. Most states and jurisdictions that collect abortion data report whether an abortion was performed by medication or surgery.
Are states and jurisdictions required to report their abortion data to CDC?
No, states and jurisdictions voluntarily report data to CDC for inclusion in its annual Abortion Surveillance report. CDC's Division of Reproductive Health prepares surveillance reports as data become available. There is no national requirement for data submission or reporting.
States and jurisdictions needing guidance on abortion surveillance may contact CDC at Contact CDC-INFO.
How is the report prepared and formatted?
Preparation of the Abortion Surveillance report is based on the data available from the states and jurisdictions that voluntarily provide this information for a given calendar year. After CDC receives the data, staff perform the analyses that produce the tables, the figure, and the narrative describing methods and trends. For more information on compilation of the report, please view the abstract and methods portion of the most recent Abortion Surveillance report.
How is the Abortion Surveillance Report used?
This report is used for many purposes in the field of public health, including to:
- Evaluate the success of programs aimed at promoting equitable access to patient-centered quality contraceptive services in the United States, to reduce unintended pregnancies.
- Calculate pregnancy rates, on the basis of the number of pregnancies ending in abortion, in conjunction with birth data and estimates of pregnancy loss.
- Monitor changes in clinical practice patterns related to abortion, such as changes in the types of procedures used and the weeks of gestation at the time of abortion.
- Calculate the national legal induced abortion case-fatality rate.
Are data available for my own analysis?
Besides the data available in the annual Abortion Surveillance report, data from 2012 to 2021 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.