By Gudrun Schultz
ALBERTA, Canada, February 6, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Alberta released the province’s health report this week, including available statistics on abortion rates.
10,042 babies were aborted in the province in 2005, according to the report, slightly down from 2004 when 10,195 abortions took place. The rate of abortions per 1000 women ages 15-49 was 11.8 percent in 2005.
The 2005 figures for percentage of abortions by gestational age were not available in the report. The figures for 2004 show that while nearly half of all abortions (5,019) took place while the baby was less than nine weeks gestation, or nine to 12 weeks gestation (4, 285), a total of 1,014 abortions occurred when the baby was 13 to16 weeks, and 439 abortions occurred when the baby was 17-20 weeks.
In addition, despite the report’s statement that abortions in the province occur only up to the 20th week of pregnancy, the breakdown of abortion by gestational age shows that 65 babies were aborted at more than 20 weeks gestation. The report does not give any further details on the gestational age of these babies at the time of abortion.
As with abortion rates across the country, Alberta’s records show that the majority of abortions in 2005 were obtained by women in their twenties. During the period 2003-2005, 28.9 out of every 1,000 women aged 20-24 underwent an abortion. That was the highest rate of abortion among various age groups. Women aged 18-19 were the next highest group, with a rate of 25 out of every 1,000 women, and women aged 25-29 were the third highest group, at 19 per 1,000.
The reported abortion rate for Alberta women under 20 was significantly lower than that of the rest of Canada, particularly among girls under 15 years of age. The rate of abortions among girls under 15 in Alberta was less than one third of the rate for this age group in Canada as a whole. Statistics Canada for 2003 shows a national 1.5 % rate for under 15-year olds, compared to .3 for Alberta. No explanation for the large difference was given.
More abortions took place at private clinics (54.6 percent) than at hospitals (45.4 percent), in continuation of a trend beginning in the mid-90’s.
See full report from Alberta Health:
https://www.health.gov.ab.ca/resources/publications/reproductive06.pdf
See related LifeSiteNews coverage:
NEW CANADIAN ABORTION STATISTICS RELEASED
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2003/mar/03032801.html
Canada’s Abortion Rate Drops Minimally as 105,154 Unborn Child Killings Registered
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2005/feb/05021103.html