Youth Indicators 1996 / Indicator 9, Chart 1

Indicator 9. Pregnancy, Abortion, and Births

Estimated pregnancy rate and abortion rate for teenage women, by age: 1980 to 1991

SOURCES: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Health, United States, 1993. U.S. Bureau of the Census Current Population Report: U.S. Population Estimates, by Age, Sex, Race, and Hispanic Origin: 1980 to 1991, 1993.

Both pregnancy rates and birth rates for older teenagers (15 to 19 years old) rose between 1980 and 1991. The proportion of these pregnancies ending in abortions remained stable through the mid-80's, and then fell. About 28 percent of 15- to 19-year-old pregnancies resulted in abortion in 1991.