Abortion
The Religious Coalition is pro-choice, not pro-abortion. We do not at any time advocate for abortion but we do advocate for women and men making their own decisions about their reproductive life, in consultation with their faith tradition, a condition that we believe is the very basis of an individual's dignity and of moral behavior.
Being pro-choice means we believe women and men should be able to decide what is best for themselves and their families, including giving birth, choosing adoption, and deciding to have an abortion. We work to keep family planning and sexuality education available to all Americans because these are the tested and proven ways to reduce unintended pregnancies and abortions.
The fact is, we communicate the grave moral nature of abortion. As people of faith, we support individuals in making their own moral decisions and stand with them as they struggle with the very real complexities of life. It is clear that, while people of all religions anguish over abortion, most feel this is a moral decision, one a woman must make for herself in keeping with her faith, beliefs, conscience, and her own personal situation.
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Get the facts!
Statistics
Abortion is one of the most common medical procedures performed in the United States. An estimated 43% of women in the U.S. will have at least one abortion by the time they are 45 years old. In part, that is a result of the high number of unintended pregnancies. Approximately 48% of pregnancies among American women are unintended; half of these are terminated by abortion. (Source: Alan Guttmacher Institute)
Who Has Abortions?
Each year, 2 out of every 100 women aged 15-44 have an abortion. Almost half (48%) of these women have had at least one previous abortion and 61% have had a previous birth.
Worldwide, an estimated 46 million abortions occur each year. Of these, 20 million procedures are obtained illegally.
52% of U.S. women obtaining abortions are younger than 25. Women aged 20-24 obtain 33% of all abortions, and teenagers obtain 20%.
African American women are more than 3 times as likely as white women to have an abortion, and Hispanic women are roughly 2 times as likely.
Catholic women are about as likely as all women to have an abortion. Catholic women account for 27.4% of abortion patients and Protestant women have 42.8% of all abortions. Born-again Protestants have 13% of all abortions. ("Born-again" believers constitute about 30% of the American adult population, and are thus under-represented among women having abortions.)
10,000-15,000 women have abortions each year following rape or incest.
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