One-third of Detroit pregnancies end in abortion

By: American Decency Staff

About one-third of pregnancies in Detroit, Mich., end in abortion. In 2012, nearly 18,360 women in Detroit became pregnant, according to the most recent statistics released by the Michigan Department of Community Health (MDCH). But 5,693 of those pregnancies, or 31 percent, ended in abortion. 

While the total number of abortions in Michigan has declined by about 18 percent since 2001, Detroit hasn’t followed that trend. There, the abortion rate has risen from 27.5 out of every 1,000 women in 2001 to 37.9 per 1,000 women in 2012. Detroit’s 2012 abortion rate is more than 3 times higher than the statewide abortion rate of 11 out of every 1,000 women. Dr. Susan Schooley, chairwoman of the Department of Family Medicine at Henry Ford Hospital, told Detroit News the city’s abortion rate resembles a developing country more than the United States. 

As a large city with an 82.7 percent African-American population, Detroit reflects a common trend across the United States: high abortion rates in large cities and among minority populations. About 37 percent of pregnancies in New York City end in abortion. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s 2013 Abortion Surveillance report found that 31.8 out of 1,000 African-American women nationwide get abortions, a significantly higher rate compared to other demographic groups.

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