We set out to determine the number of known pregnancies in 2003. We say "known" because some pregnancies end due to natural causes at a very early stage, often before the woman even realizes she is pregnant. CDC only offers statistics for fetal deaths beginning at a fetal age of 20 weeks, so thatÂ’s the parameter weÂ’ll use in our calculations.
To calculate the number of known pregnancies, we added together three figures: the number of live births, the number of fetal deaths (these include natural miscarriages and stillbirths), and the number of abortions. HereÂ’s the data for 2003:
Live births: 4,090,007
Fetal deaths: 25,653
Abortions: 1,250,000
Total known pregnancies: 5,365,660
So abortions account for 23.2 percent of all known pregnancies.