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Induced Abortion Ratio
An induced abortion is an intentional termination of pregnancy with the
intention other than to produce a live born infant or to remove a dead fetus.
In 1998, there were 5,675 of these procedures reported on Arkansas residents.
An Induced Abortion Ratio is calculated by dividing the number of induced
abortions by the number of live births. The Induced Abortion Ratio = (5,675
/ 36,831) X 100 = 15.4 induced abortions per 100 live births. The comparable
U.S. figure in 1994 was 24.1, and 22.9 for both 1995 and 1996. It should be
noted that the latest induced abortion ratio available for the U.S. is from
calendar year 1996.
Although only 11.9 percent (678) of reported abortions on Arkansas residents
were performed out of state, the ratios may be much higher than the adjacent
counties. We received no data from Louisiana or Oklahoma. Tennessee (539)
and Texas (57) data were not broken down by county. Analysis of induced abortion
ratios by county or Health Management area is severely limited. The 596 induced
abortions performed in Tennessee and Texas are counted only in the state total
and not included in the totals for the counties and Health Management Areas.
The reader should, therefore, exercise extreme caution when interpreting the
data for the counties and areas near the Louisiana, Oklahoma, Tennessee and
Texas borders. For example, the induced abortion ratio for Little River County
dropped from 8.1 per 100 live births in 1997 to 2.8 in 1998. A similar
phenomenon occurred in Health Management Area 3, where the 1998 ratio dropped
to 12.8 per 100 live births from 15.2 in 1997.
As with the other indicators, there are differences by race for induced
abortions. The average induced abortion ratio for the five-year period was
13.4 for Whites and 24.7 for Blacks.
An examination of the state data from 1994 through 1998 indicates a steady
decline in the Arkansas induced abortion ratio. National data also indicates
a decline in the U.S. abortion ratio for this time period.
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