Anti-Abortion Laws Don’t Reduce Abortions — the Cut
The most comprehensive analysis of abortion rates around the world to date found that countries with the strictest abortion laws do not have lower abortion rates. In fact, the numbers are slightly higher than in countries where abortion is legal.
A study published in The Lancet determined that there were an average of 56 million abortions annually from 2010 to 2014. That’s about 35 abortions for every 1,000 women of childbearing age. (Between 1990 to 1994, it was 40.) But rates are still higher in the developing world, where access to modern birth control can be limited. In these countries, there were 37 abortions per 1,000 women; the figure is 27 abortions per 1,000 women in developed countries. And the total number of abortions rose from 39 million to 50 million annually.