Therapeutic Abortions in New York City: A 20-Year Review

Abstract

A 20 year profile of therapeutic abortion in New York City (1943-1962) reveals: consistent downward trend in incidence from a rate of 5.1 to 1.8/1000 live births (65% decline): concomitantly, an upward trend in puerperal mortality due to criminal abortion, from 1.6 to 3.1/10,000 live births; over 90% of therapeutic abortions in New York City are performed on white women, with the white ratio 5 times greater than among nonwhites, and 26 times greater than that among the Puerto Rican, the highest incidence of therapeutic abortion occurs in the Proprietary Hospital, next highest in the Voluntary Hospital and the lowest in the Municipal Hospitals; by indication, the over-all frequency of therapeutic abortion has declined by 50%, with individual indications declining by 20-93%; mental disorders remain the major indication for therapeutic abortion at the present time.