Abortions among Black and Hispanic populations increased in 2021

Abortion among communities of color increased in 2021, according to recently published abortion data released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Black women saw the highest abortion percentage, rate, and ratio that same year.

The most recent report, dated November 24, 2023, documented a total of 625,978 abortions reported to the CDC from 48 reporting areas in 2021. Out of those, just 394,757 abortions from 33 areas were reported by race or ethnicity for 2021. The data excluded critical abortions out of “19 reporting areas (California, Colorado, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York State, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Washington, and Wisconsin) that did not report, did not report by race and ethnicity, or did not meet reporting standards,” the CDC claimed.

There are no federal mandates to report all abortions.

Abortion Disproportionately Impacts Communities of Color

Population data published by KFF (Kaiser) indicates that abortion disproportionately impacts communities of color, specifically Black and Hispanic populations.

According to the CDC, in 2021 “non-Hispanic White (White) women and non-Hispanic Black (Black) women accounted for the highest percentages of all abortions (30.2% and 41.5%, respectively), and Hispanic women and non-Hispanic women in the other race category accounted for lower percentages (21.8% and 6.5%, respectively).”

The data also showed that Black women accounted for a disproportionately larger percentage, rate, and ratio of abortions.

The abortion percentage among white women decreased (32.7% in 2020 v. 30.2% in 2021) as did those in the “other” group category (7% in 2020 to 6.5% by 2021).

At the same time, the abortion percentage increased nearly six percent (5.86%) among Black women (39.2% in 2020 v. 41.5% in 2021). Likewise, Hispanic women also saw an abortion percentage increase of over three percent (3.3%) in 2021, (21.7% in 2020 v. 21.8% in 2021).

Abortion Estimates (Race/Ethnicity)

The CDC’s reported data for race and ethnicity totaled 394,757 abortions in 2021 from only 33 reporting areas. Total abortion estimates by race/ethnicity were calculated by multiplying 2021 abortion percentages with the total number of abortions (625,978):

• White Americans made up 58.2% of people living in the United States in 2021, but accounted for 30.2% of abortions in 2021, for an estimated 189,045 total abortions.
• Black Americans made up 11.6% of people living in the United States in 2021, but accounted for 41.5% of abortions 2021, for an estimated 259,781 total abortions.
• Hispanic Americans made up 19% of people living in the United States in 2021, but accounted for 21.8% of abortions in 2021, for an estimated 136,463 total abortions.

The data shows that between 2020 and 2021, estimated total abortions for white women decreased nearly seven percent (6.8%) from 202,847 in 2020 to 189,045 in 2021. But that completely flipped among the Black population, which saw estimated total abortions increase by nearly seven percent (6.8%) — from 243,168 in 2020 to 259,781 in 2021. Likewise, estimated total abortions for Hispanic women also increased by 4.25%, from 130,889 in 2020 to 136,463 in 2021.

The Guttmacher Institute’s 2014 data on race also showed a disproportionate impact as well. However, a more limited study was published by Guttmacher in April of 2023, which looked at the demographics of abortion clients in states which have more protections for preborn children versus states that do not.

Between June 2021 and July 2022, Guttmacher obtained data from 5,930 women who had had abortions, according to Dr. Michael New at National Review, who confirmed that even among that limited sample size, “an increasing percentage of abortions are performed on both African-American women and Hispanic women.”

Abortion Rate

“White women had the lowest abortion rate (6.4 abortions per 1,000 women aged 15–44 years) and ratio (116 abortions per 1,000 live births), and Black women had the highest abortion rate (28.6 abortions per 1,000 women aged 15–44 years) and ratio (498 abortions per 1,000 live births),” the CDC wrote (emphasis added).

Breaking this down further, we found that:

• The Black abortion rate was nearly 5 times higher than the white abortion rate (28.6 v 6.4) and over twice as high as the Hispanic abortion rate (28.6 v 12.3).  The Black abortion ratio was over 4 times higher than the white abortion ratio (498 v. 116) and 3.5 times higher than the Hispanic abortion ratio (498 v. 186).
• The Hispanic abortion rate was nearly twice as high as the white abortion rate (12.3 v. 6.4) and the Hispanic abortion ratio was over 1.5 times higher than the white abortion ratio (186 v. 116).

There are an estimated 518 white babies killed by abortion every day (189,045/365); nearly 12 white babies will die by abortion for every 100 live births.

Among the Black community, there are an estimated 712 Black babies (259,781/365) killed by abortion every day. And, tragically, 50 Black babies will die by abortion for every 100 live births.

In addition, there are an estimated 374 Hispanic babies (136,463/365) killed by abortion every day. But sadly, for every 100 live births, nearly 19 Hispanic babies will die by abortion.

Births v. Abortion

In 2021, 3,664,292 total births were registered in the United States. Out of those, CDC’s National Vital Statistics system recorded 1,887,656 white births (9.7% birth rate), 517,889 Black births (12.5% birth rate), and 885,916 (14.1% birth rate). Birth rates are births per 1,000 population in each specified group.

In 2021, the Black abortion rate was twice as high as the Black birth rate (28.6% v. 12.5%). According to the data, while the Black population saw a 12.5% birth rate (births per 1,000 population in specified group) in 2021, they saw whopping 28.6% abortion rate (abortions per 1,000 women aged 15–44 years) that same year. And the CDC report tragically claimed there were 498 abortions per 1,000 live births that same year.

While nationally the trend is going in the wrong direction, in places like New York City, there appears to be some good news now that Black births have outpaced Black abortions for the past several years.

Previous to and including the year 2016, the data had shown that more babies were aborted in New York City (NYC) than had been born. However, in 2017 that trend slowly began to reverse, and continues in 2020, the latest year recorded, where New York City documented 18,162 Black births and 14,043 abortions of Black babies that same year.

Abortion Compared to Leading Causes of Death, by Race/Ethnicity

Leading causes of death data has not been published for 2020 or 2021. However, using data for 2019, we discover that:

• Black abortions (estimated at 259,781) in 2021 outnumbered the top nine leading causes of death (257,750) for Black Americans in 2019 combined (2021 cause of death data is not yet available). Black abortion numbers (estimated) were over 26 times greater than homicides committed on Black Americans (259,781 v. 9,951) in 2019.
• Hispanic abortions (estimated at 136,463) in 2021 nearly outnumbered the top seven leading causes of death (139,793) for Hispanic Americans in 2019 combined (2021 cause of death data is not yet available). Hispanic abortion numbers (estimated) were nearly 44 times greater than homicides committed on Hispanic Americans (136,463 v. 3,122) in 2019.

Abortion is Tethered to Eugenics

Abortion is tethered to eugenics, and communities of color continue to be targeted for eugenic abortions. Advocates of abortion often paint the killing of preborn minority children as a solution to poverty, or as a stepping stone out of a life of poverty. But the facts simply do not bear this out. This eugenic philosophy of abortion has little to do with helping communities of color and instead serves only to eliminate them.

In 2021, nearly half of eugenics-founded Planned Parenthood’s 2.1 million clients were people of color, with more than 581,000 patients who identify as Latino and more than 360,000 patients who identify as Black. Planned Parenthood does not break down how many abortions were sold in those communities.