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Invasive procedure resulting in pregnancy termination and death of the fetus.

Abortion is the final consequence of a woman's decision to terminate her pregnancy. In the U.S., more than 50% of the pregnancies are unintended, and 50% of these end in abortion. More than half (53%) of the unplanned pregnancies happen among the 10% of women who practice no contraception. Most women getting abortions are young: 55% are under 25, including 21% teenagers.

Between five and seven weeks, a pregnancy can be ended by a procedure called menstrual extraction, shown above. (Electronic Illustrations Group. Reproduced with permission.)

While abortion is practiced throughout society, in all socioeconomic strata, poor women are three times more likely to have an abortion than their well-off counterparts.

White women have 63% of all abortions, but the non-white abortion rate is more than twice...