The Public Health Impact of Legal Abortion: 30 Years Later

Before abortion was legalized in 1973, an estimated 800,000 abortions were performed illegally each year. Since then, the abortion surveillance movement has regularly tracked data on abortion and its public health impacts. Initially, the characteristics of women seeking abortions were tracked, as we...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Perspectives on sexual and reproductive health 2003-01, Vol.35 (1), p.25-28
Main Authors: Cates, Willard, Grimes, David A., Schulz, Kenneth F.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Abortion
Abortion, Criminal - statistics & numerical data
Abortion, Criminal - trends
Abortion, Legal - legislation & jurisprudence
Abortion, Legal - statistics & numerical data
Abortion, Legal - trends
Comment
Family planning
Female
Gynecology
Health
Health policy
Humans
Induced abortion
Legal abortion
Morbidity
Mortality
Obstetrics
Population Surveillance
Pregnancy
Public health
Public Health - trends
Reproductive health
Supreme Court Decisions
United States
Women
Womens health
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Summary:Before abortion was legalized in 1973, an estimated 800,000 abortions were performed illegally each year. Since then, the abortion surveillance movement has regularly tracked data on abortion and its public health impacts. Initially, the characteristics of women seeking abortions were tracked, as well as the timing of the abortion. Later, abortion morbidity and mortality were monitored, as well as abortion availability and characteristics of providers. Over the course of time, abortion moved from an unsafe illegal procedure, to a medical procedure, resulting in reduced complications and death. Although abortion services are available and expected, there is still a political controversy surrounding the issue.
ISSN:1538-6341
1931-2393
DOI:10.1363/3502503