The Top 5 Canadian Provinces With the Highest Abortion Rates

  Province Abortion Rate
1 Northwest Territories 24.0 abortions per 1,000 women
2 Quebec 19.6 abortions per 1,000 women
3 British Columbia 17.7 abortions per 1,000 women
4 Yukon Territory 17.3 abortions per 1,000 women
5 Alberta 15.1 abortions per 1,000 women
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 Special Report
  1. In Canada, 20% of women who obtained an abortion between 1975 and 1993 had had at least one previous abortion. A total of 100,039 induced abortions were performed on Canadian women in 2004, down 2.9% from 103,001 in 2003. As a result, the induced abortion rate edged down from 15.1 abortions in 2003 for every 1,000 women aged 15 to 44, to 14.6 in 2004.
  2. The proportion of women in the population who have ever had an abortion has increased each year since abortion was legalized, from 4% in 1975 to 11% in 1984 and 17% in 1993. The increased prevalence of repeat abortions in Canada after liberalization of the abortion law was similar to the experience in other countries where abortion laws were liberalized at around the same time.
  3. The number of children aborted between 1994 and 2000 was almost double that of 1974-1980. When abortion was first legalized in 1969, for every child that was aborted approximately 7 children were born. In 2004, one child was aborted for approximately every three that were born.
  4. Canada has one of the lowest abortion death rates in the world, 0.1 deaths per 100,000 abortions.
  5. Induced abortions continue to be most common among Canadian women in their 20s. They accounted for 53% of all women who obtained an induced abortion in 2004. On average, 25 women out of every 1,000 in their 20s obtain an induced abortion.
Top 5 facts sources:
  1. Statistics Canada. (2007). "Canada's population by age and sex." Retrieved Jan, 2011
Tags: Top 5 Highest, Canada, Abortion Statistics

Sources:  Statistics Canada

List Notes: Data is abortions in Canada per 1,000 women aged 15-44 (including the territories).
Canadian Provinces With the Highest Abortion Rates

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