View the chart: Abortion Rates and Incidences
This legislative session, abortion proved to be one of the most high-profile and contentious issues addressed by the Idaho Legislature. How many abortions are performed in Idaho? What segment of the population historically gets abortions? Where does Idaho fit in the national statistics? These are questions that policy makers might want to know. In an effort to provide some background, we created a user-friendly, graphic representation of abortion rates and incidence across Idaho and the U.S.
The abortion rate in Idaho has been less than half that of the U.S. as a whole in every year for which data could be obtained. While the number of abortions provided to Idahoans — especially those provided in Idaho — has risen over the past decade, Idaho’s rate remains far below the national rate. And, Idaho has the 4th lowest rate all states for which data could be obtained. Abortion rates in eastern Idaho tend to be lower than central or northern Idaho. Those most likely to have an abortion are 20 to 24 years of age and more than half of the abortions were provided before nine weeks’ gestation.
Most of the information in this graphic is from the annual Induced Abortion Summaries prepared by the Bureau of Vital Records and Health Statistics. This agency collects data on the number of abortions provided in Idaho, the number of abortions provided to Idaho residents within the state, the number of abortions performed on women from out of state. Vital Statistics also collects information about the age of the woman receiving the abortion and the number of weeks of gestation.
See our series of graphs for details on abortion rates and incidence over time, by locality, and by age and weeks of gestation. Further details can be found at the sources listed in our references page.
For questions, e-mail ppc@boisestate.edu