Canadian Abortion Statistics for 2004

Statistics Canada reported that there were 100,039 induced abortions performed on Canadian women in 2004. Data on induced abortions performed on Canadian women in the United States is no longer collected as of 2004. Manitoba did not report numbers for induced abortions obtained in clinics in the province. The number of induced abortions recorded for every 100 live births was 29.7% .

ANNUAL THERAPEUTIC ABORTIONS AND ABORTION RATES FOR CANADIAN WOMEN FROM 1970 - 2004 AS REPORTED BY STATISTICS CANADA AND THE CANADIAN INSTITUTE FOR HEALTH INFORMATION (CIHI)
  Number Rate per 100 live births  
Year Hospital Events Clinic Events From U.S.A.    Total Hospital Eevents Clinic events From U.S.A.    Total
1970 11,152 --   11,152 3.0     3.0
1971 30.923  -- 6,309 37,232 8.5     1.7 10.2
1972 38,853 -- 6,573 45,426  11.2    1.9  13.1
1973 43,201   5,501 48,702 12.6   1.6 14.2
1974 48,136   4,299 52,435 13.7    1.2 14.9
1975 49,311   4,394 53,705 13.7   1.2 14.9
1976 54,478   4,234 58,712 15.1   1.2 16.3
1977 57,564    2,300 59,864 15.9   0.5 16.5
1978 62,290 2,618 1,802 66,710 17.4 0.7 0.6 18.6
1979 65,043 3,629 1,073 69,745 17.8 1.0 0.3 19.1
1980 65,751 4,704  1,644  72,099 17.7 1.3 0.4 19.4
1981 65,053 4,207 2,651 71,911 17.5 1.1 0.7 19.3
1982 66,254 4,506 4,311 75,071  17.8 1.2 1.2 20.2
1983 61,750 3,635 3,983 69,368 16.5 1.0 1.1 18.6
1984 62,247 3,571  3,631 69,449  16.5 0.9 1.0 18.4
1985 62,712 3,706 2,798 69,216   16.7 1.0 0.7 18.4
1986 63,462 3,498   2,612 69,572 17.0 0.9 0.7 18.6
1987 63,585  3,681 2,757 70,023 17.2 1.0 0.7 18.9
1988 66,137 4,617 1,939 72,693  17.6 1.2 0.5 119.3
1989 70,705 7,059 1,551 79,315 18.0 1.8 0.4 20.2
1990 71,092 20,236 1,573 92,901 17.5 5.0 0.4 22.9
1991 70,277  23,343 1,439 95,059 17.5 5.8 0.3 23.6
1992 70,408  31,151 526 102,085 17.7 7.8 0.1 25.6
1993 72,434 31,508  461 104,403 18.7 8.1 0.1 26.9
1994 71,630 34,287 338 106,255 18.6 8.9 0.1 27.6
1995 70,549 35,650 459 106,658 18.7 9.4 0.1 28.6(revised)
1996 74,555 36,803  301 111,659       30.5 (revised)
1997 71,795 39,621 293 111,709        32.0 (revised)
1998 68,273   41,761 297 110,331       32.2 (revised)
1999 63,815 41,620 231 105,666        31.3 (revised)
2000 63,507  41,705 215 105,427        32.2 (revised)
2001 61,227 45,016 175 106,418       31.9
2002 58254 46,748 152 105,154       32.1
2003 56,089  47,530 149 103,768       31.0
2004   53,670 46,369 -** 100,039       29.7

 

*Induced abortions were classified as therapeutic beginning in 1969 when the first survey, the collection of legally induced abortion data was taken.  Statistics Canada says “the term ‘therapeutic’ remains in the title of the survey   for the sake of historical consistency”.  Since 1970 abortion figures have been compiled for hospital abortions.  In 1978 Quebec began to report some figures for clinic abortions.  In 1990 the clinic figures reported related to Quebec, Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Manitoba and British Columbia.  In 1991 published clinic data included figures reported from Alberta.  In 1994 clinic data included figures from New Brunswick.

Starting in 1995, therapeutic abortion data were collected from reporting areas within and outside the country by the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI)..  The data once collected is then transferred to Statistics Canada for analysis and publication.  The Induced Abortions Statistics 2004 publication is available as catalogue number 82-223-XIE. ** In 2004, data for induced abortions performed on Canadian women in American states were not collected.

 Note: As of 1999, the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long Term Care no longer maintains a system for the collection of detailed information on abortions performed in Ontario clinics but , instead uses the billing system of the Ontario Health Insurance Plan (OHIP) to provide counts of clinic abortions to the Therapeutic Abortion Survey. This means that information is no longer available for clinic abortions performed on non-residents of Ontario or on Ontario residents who do not submit a claim to OHIP.

The total of 100,763 induced abortions reported in the Statistics Canada tables for 2004 on their website includes abortions performed on non-Canadian residents: the number 100,039  is for abortions performed on Canadian women only.

In 2004, Manitoba figures include only abortions performed in hospitals, no numbers were reported for clinics.

It is becoming increasingly difficult to formulate a complete profile of the women who undergo the abortion procedure because of incomplete and missing demographic and medical case data. 

Statistics Canada and the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) report a total of 100,763 abortions for 2004.  There are records in the database for 100,039 abortions and total detailed records for only 42,880 hospital and clinic abortions combined. Consequently, the percentage distribution of selected characteristics such as gestational age of the child, age of the mother, number of previous abortions, any immediate complications, etc. is based only on the total detailed records available. 

CLINICS:  The total number of clinic abortions reported in 2004 was 47,005 and these clinic abortions accounted for 46% of all abortions performed in 2004.  Only one province (Alberta) provided detailed records for 6,125 clinic abortions (13% of the 46,369 clinic abortions recorded in the database).  Ontario accounts for 34% of all abortions reported in Canada.

HOSPITALS: Canadian hospitals reported 53,758 induced abortions in 2004 and of the 53,670 listed in the database, detailed records are available for only 36,755.  Nineteen years ago in 1988, hospitals reported 66,137 abortions and case items were missing for 5,484 of these cases (8%).  Hospitals  in Québec no longer fully report items such as: age of the mother,  previous deliveries, number of previous abortions, gestational age of the child at the time of abortion, nature of the abortion procedure, complications etc. 

Overall, using combined hospital and clinic figures, we learn that selected demographic and medical information is now available for only 43% of the 100,039 induced abortions performed on Canadian women in 2004.

From the incomplete data obtained by CIHI, Statistics Canada, Health Statistics Division reported that in 2004:

  1. 53.9% of the women having clinic and hospital abortions were between 20 to 29 years of     age and 24.6% were 30-39 years of age at the time of their abortion. **
  2. Almost 47% of induced abortions were performed in clinics (47,005).
  3. 53% of induced abortions were performed in hospitals (53,758).
  4. 30.8 % of the women had undergone at least one previous abortion.**
  5. 16.8 % of women having clinic and hospital abortions were between 10 and 19 years of age.**
  6. Marital status at the time of the abortion procedure is no longer listed in the Selected Demographics and Medical Statistics tables of Statistics Canada.
  7. 41.7% of women undergoing an abortion in Canada had no other children.**
  8. Perhaps the most startling statistic is that women who have had previous deliveries account for a growing proportion of abortions: 42.5 % in 2004.**

**These combined figures are taken from detailed records in the database for abortions done in 2004 in Canadian clinics and hospitals. These figures represent only 43% of the total records in the database(100,039) falling short of the information necessary to provide an accurate profiling of the 100,763 women who had abortions in 2004. There is no data for  abortions done in the U.S.

Percentage of  abortions by selected characteristics

   Hospital Abortions ++Clinc Abortions Hostipal and Clinic Abortions
Total records in Database 53,670 43.369 100,039
Total Detailed Records 36,755     6,125 42,880

(basis for percentage distribution) %  distribution % distribution % distribution
Gestation Period      
Under 9 weeks  30.2 47.3 32.7
9-12 weeks 42.9 36.2 42.0
13 - 16 weeks 6.6 11.4 7.3
Over 16 weeks 4.0 4.9 4.1
Unknown 16.3 0.1 14.0

Database includes abortions performed in Canada on Canadian residents only. Only Alberta clinics responded. N.B.: Percentage distribution is based on detailed records only.

n an effort to put a human face on the percentages quoted in the table, consider the combined known figures for abortions performed in hospitals and clinics at 9-12 weeks gestation . At 42% distribution this represents at least 18,009 babies dead by clinic and hospital abortions.

COMPLICATIONS:  First, second and third immediate complications only are reported in the survey  (hemorrhage, infection, pelvic damage, retained products of conception, death or ‘other’). At least 626 women were reported to have sustained complications: of these, 308 women had “retained products of conception”.

The provinces with the highest number of abortions are: Ontario (35,238), Québec (30,558),

British Columbia (14,738), Alberta (11,283).

HISTORICAL NOTES:

Before 1969 the law permitted abortion only when necessary to preserve the life of the mother.  The law was amended on May 14, 1969 to allow abortion in cases where “the continuation of the pregnancy...would be likely to endanger the life or health of the mother”.  The word “health” was never defined.  Abortions were to be performed in accredited hospitals with the approval of a therapeutic abortion committee of 3 doctors. On January 28, 1988 the Supreme Court of Canada struck down the 1969 law, (Section 251 of the Criminal Code) for procedural reasons related to Section 7 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. There is no cut-off point in pregnancy after which abortions may not be performed. This means that the child in the womb can be aborted in hospitals and clinics at any time, by any means, for any reason, right up to and during birth with impunity.

  • Pregnancy is not a disease; however, abortion is a frequently performed surgical procedure in Canada. 
  • Abortion is elective surgery, which does not cure any medical condition.
  • The leading cause of death in Canada is induced abortion...100,039 babies dead by induced abortion in 2004.

  BETWEEN 1970 AND 2004 CANADA HAS SANCTIONED THE DEATHS OF 2,792,352 BABIES AWAITING BIRTH.

For further information on induced abortion statistics, please contact Action Life (Ottawa) Inc at 309-376 Churchill Avenue North, Ottawa, ON K1Z3C5. Ph. 1-613-798-494, Fax 1-613-798-4496