See also: quick facts | abortion methods | contraceptives

Abortion ends a pregnancy by destroying and removing the developing child either in utero or while the child is being born (Partial Birth Abortion). Abortion is an act of violence that kills an unborn child and hurts the mother who has one.

Since 1973, when the United States Supreme Court Roe v. Wade decision legalized abortion for all nine months of a woman'spregnancy for any reason, at least 40 million unborn children have been killed legally by the violence of abortion. This violence currently occurs 1.3 million times a year (3,300 times a day) in America.

The victims of abortion are not only the pre-born children who die but also their mothers who are subjected to serious physical, emotional, and psychological complications. Fathers and other loved ones may also be at risk for post-abortion complications.

Abortion-on-demand is also corrupting the culture at-large by advancing the false idea that human beings can solve their problems or escape their pain through violence, killing, and abandonment.

• The negative affects of abortion on men is becoming more apparent - see Men Hurt Too information.
  
  
• See also information regarding Ohio laws on abortion. Information regarding the legal status of abortion worldwide is available from the Ohio Right to Life web site.
  
  
• For statistics, see current U.S. abortion statistics compiled by National Right to Life; and State Health Facts Online maps and tables published by the Kaiser Family Foundation¹.
  
  
• Abortion photos are available from the Priests for Life web site.
  
  
• For information about abortion as one cause of breast cancer see Breast Cancer Prevention Institute and Abortion Breast Cancer Link
  
  
• A virtual 4D ultrasound scan is available from the GE Medical Systems web site.

¹The Kaiser Family Foundation is not a pro-life organization, but its statistics are useful.

QUICK FACTS

• 70% of women getting abortions are unmarried. (Source: USA Today, Jan. 22, 1998)
• Abortion is the most frequently performed surgical procedure in the United States. (Source: Alan Guttmacher Institute)
• The American Medical Association supports legislation banning partial-birth abortions unless the life of the mother is in danger.
• Studies show that there is a 150% increase in rates of breast cancer for girls under 18 who abort at 8 weeks gestation or greater. (Source: British Journal of Cancer, 1981)
• In America, 165,000 babies are aborted in the second and third trimester. (Source: Center for Disease Control Statistics)
• According to a 1999 USA Today/CNN/Gallup poll, 71% of Americans favor some or total restrictions on abortions.
• Social or "birth control" reasons account for approximately 93% of all abortions. So-called "hard cases" of rape, incest, health of baby, and threat to life or health of mother account for less than 7%. (Source: Family Planning Perspectives, July/August 1988)
• 53% of Americans believe abortion is morally wrong. (Source: Gallup Poll, 2003)
• Nearly two-thirds believe abortion should be illegal after the first trimester. (Source: LA Times Poll, 2000)
• Currently, abortion is legal for any reason in every state of the union.