One way in which pro-choice advocates have tried to justify abortions is to claim that those living in poverty will not be able to afford having children.
One of the many implications of this is that developed countries can be expected to have an abortion rate lower than that of developing countries.
At first glance, this does appear to be the case. Most abortions occur in developing countries—35 million annually, compared with seven million in developed countries [1].
However, what is often not said is that the rate of abortions between the developing and developed countries is almost exactly the same.
What the numbers above (which show that there are millions more abortions in developing countries) do not report is that the population of people in developing countries is far higher than for developed countries.
Developing countries account for about 5 billion people, while only 1 billion people live in developed countries.
These numbers inflated, misrepresenting the rates of abortion throughout the world.
In developed countries, there are 26 abortions per 1,000 women. In developing countries there are 29 abortions per 1,000 women [2].
There are numerous reasons that developing countries might have slightly higher rates of abortions. Poverty, government regulations and a lack of education may all be contributing factors.
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References
[1] Guttmacher Institute. (2011). “Facts on Induced Abortion Worldwide.” http://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/fb_IAW.html
[2] Ibid
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