Abortion mortality, United States, 1972 through 1987

Between the years 1972 and 1987, the maternal death rate due to legal abortion declined. Data was collected by the Division of Reproductive Health of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. During those years, 240 women died of causes related to legal abortion. The rate declined from 4.1 deaths per 100,000 abortions in 1972 to 0.4 deaths per 100,000 abortions in 1987. Women aged 40 or more had three times the risk of teenagers, and black and other minority women had 2.5 times the risk. Women undergoing abortion at 16 weeks' gestation or more had 15 times the risk of women having abortions at 12 weeks' gestation or less. The increased risk of later abortion was primarily due to the increased risk of abortion procedures other than currettage. From 1972 to 1977 hemorrhage and infection were the leading causes of death. As deaths from these causes declined, anesthesia emerged as a major cause from 1977 1o 1982 and became the most common cause of death from 1983 onward.