Abortion rate falls

by NZ CATHOLIC staff
WELLINGTON — The median age of women who had an abortion in 2013 was 26, figures
from Statistics New Zealand (SNZ) show.
Figures from SNZ show that 14,073 abortions were carried out last year, the lowest
number since 1995.
The general abortion rate; that is, the number of abortions per 1000 women aged 15 to 44, fell from 16.1 in 2012 to 15.4 in 2013.
This is the lowest abortion rate since 1994, when it was 15.3 per 1000.
The total abortion rate has also fallen.
This measures the average number of abortions that 1000 women would have during their
life (based on current age-specific abortion rates). The total abortion rate for 2013 was
460 abortions per 1000 women, which is a drop of 5 per cent from the figure of 484 in 2012.
The proportion of known pregnancies ending in an abortion also fell.
In 2013, the abortion ratio was 192 abortions per 1000 known pregnancies, compared with 193 in 2012. Last year’s figure is the lowest since 1995 — which was 191 per 1000. Known pregnancies include live births, stillbirths and induced abortions combined.
• Full report — http://www.parliament.nz/resource/ 0002068654