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DID YOU KNOW …?
Facts about Pregnancy, Adoption and Abortion

Pregnancy

• There are 6.3 million pregnancies a year in the United States.
  The Alan Guttmacher Institute
• 49% of pregnancies among American women are unintended.
  Henshaw, Stanley K. “Unintended Pregnancy in the United States.” Family Planning Perspectives (Volume 30, Number 1)
• At 18 days after conception, the (baby’s) heart is forming, and the eyes start to develop. By 21 days, the heart is pumping blood throughout the body.
  Randy Alcorn, Why Pro-Life? (Sisters, Oregon: Multnomah Publishers, 2004), 29.
• At 42 days after conception (6 weeks), a baby’s brain waves can be recorded, and the baby’s skeleton is complete.
  Pro-Life America
• 79% of babies born at 25 weeks’ gestation in the U.S. survive.
  Allen, M., et al. “The Limits of Viability.” New England Journal of Medicine 11/25/93 (Volume 329, Number 22) 1597

Adoption

• 2.5% of U.S. children under the age of 18 are adopted.
  U.S. Census Bureau
• Nearly 4 in 10 American adults (81.5 million) have considered adoption for their own families.
  National Adoption Attitudes Survey, as reported by www.adopting.org
• Since 1987, the number of adoptions annually (in the United States) has remained relatively constant, ranging from 118,000 to 127,000.
  National Adoption Information Clearinghouse
• An estimated 1.3 million couples are waiting to adopt a child — a figure that has held fairly steady for the last 15 years.
  National Council for Adoption
• 48% of families considering adoption turn to their houses of worship for support and information.
  Shaohannah’s Hope
• A growing number of children are now placed through independent (private) adoption — with estimates ranging from one-half to two-thirds of infant adoptions.
  Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute
• 2% of unmarried women at any age place their children for adoption.
  National Adoption Information Clearinghouse and www.adoption.com
• In 1998, 56% of Americans held a “very favorable” opinion of adoption. Today, 63% hold this opinion.
  Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption®
• November is National Adoption Awareness Month.
  http://national-adoption-month.adoption.com

Abortion

• The 3,733 abortions occurring every day in America are … more than all the lives lost in the September 11, 2001 destruction of the World Trade Center.
  Randy Alcorn, Why Pro-Life? (Sisters, Oregon: Multnomah Publishers, 2004), 16.
• Half of unintended pregnancies in America end in abortion; 24% of all pregnancies (excluding miscarriages) in the U.S. end in abortion.
  The Alan Guttmacher Institute
• 84% of women who have had an abortion say they would have kept their babies under different circumstances.
  The Elliott Institute
• 8 out of 10 pregnancy resource centers (CPCs) report that abortion-minded women decide to keep their babies after seeing ultrasound images.
  Vincent, Lynn. “Moving Pictures.” World Magazine April 23, 2005
• Only one-third of Americans find abortion morally acceptable; two-thirds find it morally wrong.
  Gallup survey, May 5-7, 2003, LifeSiteNews
• An overwhelming number of teens find abortion abhorrent … maybe it’s because millions of other teens who would have been their friends and peers never made it out of the womb.
  Farah, Joseph. “Between the Lines”