One-Third of Pregnancies End in Abortion

A viral social media graphic claims that more than a quarter of Generation Z have been aborted. According to the graphic, between 1997 and 2012, around 28% of Gen Z pregnancies were terminated, amounting to 800–900 million abortions worldwide.

Admittedly, global abortion statistics vary due to differences in reporting and legality. However, estimates from the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Guttmacher Institute indicate that there are about 73 million induced abortions worldwide each year. This represents roughly 61% of unintended pregnancies and 29% of all known pregnancies.

Each year, about 130–140 million babies are born worldwide. Alongside this, an estimated 73 million pregnancies end in abortion and 25–40 million in miscarriage. Taken together, this means roughly one-third of all human pregnancies globally end in abortion.

It’s a deeply concerning figure, as it not only reflects a disregard for human life but also illustrates that abortion is increasingly being used as a method of birth control.

In England and Wales, there has been a noticeable shift away from using hormonal contraceptives, such as the pill, towards less effective methods like fertility awareness-based methods (FABMs). A study comparing data from 2018 and 2023 found that the use of FABMs among women seeking abortions increased from 0.4% to 2.5%, marking a sixfold rise over five years.

In January, The Telegraph reported that research from the University of Edinburgh found a sixfold increase over the past five years in women seeking abortions, primarily due to the failure of natural contraception methods. In the UK, pill usage dropped from 47% in 2012–13 to 27% in 2022–23, coinciding with a record high in abortions in 2022.

Globally, the unintended pregnancy rate has declined from 79 to 64 per 1,000 women of reproductive age between 1990–1994 and 2015–2019. However, the proportion of unintended pregnancies ending in abortion has increased, suggesting that while fewer unintended pregnancies occur, a higher percentage result in abortion.