Induced abortions

Canadian women obtained slightly fewer abortions in 2003 compared with the previous year, and the decline was mostly among teen-aged women.

A total of 103,768 abortions were performed in 2003, down 1% from 105,154 in 2002. The abortion rate edged down from 15.4 abortions per 1,000 women in 2002 to 15.2 in 2003. These numbers exclude Nunavut, for which data were unavailable.

Among teen-aged women, the abortion rate in 2003 was 14.5 per 1,000 women under the age of 20, down from 15.7 the year before. The abortion rate for teen-aged women has declined gradually since 1997 when it was 18.4 per 1,000 women under the age of 20.

The crude birth rate for teen-aged women has also continued to fall. In 1997, there were 16.8 live births per 1,000 women under 20. By 2003, this had declined to 12.1.

The number of induced abortions per 100 live births decreased to 31.0 in 2003, from 32.1 in 2002.

Induced abortions continue to be most common among women in their twenties, who accounted for 53% of all women who obtained an abortion in 2003. On average, 26 women out of every 1,000 in their twenties obtained an abortion.

Induced abortion rates remained the same or increased for residents of most provinces and territories except for New Brunswick, Ontario and British Columbia, where the rates decreased.

Rates are based on induced abortions performed on Canadian residents in hospitals and clinics in Canada, as well as abortions obtained by Canadian women in some American states.

Data users should be aware of certain limitations to the Therapeutic Abortion Survey. There are recognized issues concerning coverage, increased submission of aggregate counts instead of detailed records, and an increased reliance on age estimation.

Definitions, data sources and methods: survey number 3209.

Selected tables for the years 1999 to 2003 are available in the Canadian Statistics module of our Web site.

Historical statistics dating back to 1970 are available in the publication Induced Abortion Statistics (82-223-XIE, free). From Our products and services page, under Browse our Internet publications choose Free, then Health.

Induced abortion data for 2003 were collected by the Canadian Institute for Health Information. For more information on the Therapeutic Abortion Database, contact Media Relations (613-241-7860, ext. 4004), Canadian Institute for Health Information.

For information on long-term trends in induced abortions, or to enquire about the concepts, methods or data quality of this release, contact Client Services (613-951-1746, hd-ds@statcan.gc.ca), Health Statistics Division.