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decide that abortion is the best option? How emotionally painful is this decision for a woman? The reasons for abortion are diverse, as we will discover later in the book. Questions about Abortion According to the Guttmacher Institute’s 2008 study, there are an estimated 43.8 million abortions performed worldwide every year. This compares to an estimated 131.4 million births per year—a ratio of one abortion for every three live births. The World Health Organization (WHO) reported 21.6 million women experience an unsafe, often illegal, abortion in the world each year, with 86 percent of these in developing coun- tries. Why do so many women throughout the world resort to a criminal act that risks their health in order to terminate a preg- nancy? What kind of health risks are involved? We will look at

Abortion Statistics Worldwide

W ith 2008 estimates of 22.2 million legal abortions and 21.6 mil- lion illegal, unsafe abortions each year, the approximate global monthly average is 3.65 million abortions. The proportion of abor- tions worldwide that take place in developing countries increased from 78 percent to 86 percent between 1995 and 2008, in part because the proportion of all women who live in developing countries increased during this period.

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Basics of Abortion