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By Gudrun Schultz
Statistics Canada released the abortion statistics for 2003 on March 15, 2006. The numbers show that 103,768 babies were killed by abortion in 2003, including 149 abortions on Canadian women carried out in the U.S. The number dropped slightly from the 2002 total of 105,154, a difference of 1%, or 1,386 babies. The decrease in abortions was found primarly among teen-aged girls, continuing the trend of lessening teen abortion rates. However, Stats Canada estimates that at least 10% of abortions in Canada are not reported.
Canadian abortion information is poorly documented, with inadequate reporting and incomplete publishing of data. Reporting by hospitals and clinics is voluntary. Within the 2003 report, provincial reporting is incomplete except in the province of Alberta. Of the abortions that were recorded, there are complete, detailed records available for less than half.
Despite the limitations of the data, some significant information can be found within the 2003 statistics.
More than half (53.7%) of abortions on record were obtained by women in their twenties. Almost a third (29.2%) were over thirty. Only 17% were under twenty.
Over a third (38.3%) of women obtaining an abortion in 2003 had one or more previous abortions.
Just over half (50.2%) of all women having an abortion had at least one previous delivery. 27.5% of women having an abortion had two or more children. More women aborted a baby after carrying a previous child to term than underwent repeat abortions.
10,776.4 abortions were performed after the first trimester of pregnancy. 7,462 abortions were performed at 13-16 weeks gestation, and 3,316 abortions were performed after the fourth month.
The number of late-term abortions (abortions perfomed at 21-40 weeks) has been increasing in Canada over the last four years on record. In 2003, the number reached 320, well over a third higher than 188 reported in 2000. In 2001 there were 246, and in 2002 there were 308. However, researchers note that gestational age is known for less than half of Canadian abortions.
Abortion rates dropped in New Brunswick, Ontario and British Columbia. In New Brunswick, in particular, abortions decreased by almost 10%. In Newfoundland and Labrador abortions increased by 10%, and in Manitoba there was an increase of 12.3%. Rates stayed relatively unchanged in the remaining provinces and the Northwest Territories. Nunavut did not report data for 2003, so it was excluded from the report.
First published in Action Life News, 2006.
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