New York City’s 2021 abortion statistics were published online as part of the city’s vital statistics report in February 2024.
Statistics and Changes in New York City Abortions, 2020-2021
The report does not include information on Planned Parenthood’s New York City abortion market share.
Abortion Totals and Trends
New York City’s 2021 abortion statistics showed a very slight increase in the number of abortions occurring from 2020 to 2021, with 37,813 abortions reported in the city in 2021, a 0.77% increase from 2020. There were 13,632 drug-induced abortions in New York City in 2021, an increase of 1.9% from 2020 (Fig. 1). The Charlotte Lozier Institute (CLI) estimates that New York City’s 2021 abortion rate was 21 abortions per 1,000 women ages 15-44 (Fig. 2).1
State Report Summary
Ninety-one percent of New York City abortions were performed on city residents in 2021: 31% were on residents from Brooklyn, 22% from Queens, 21% from the Bronx, 14% from Manhattan, and 3% from Staten Island. Nine percent of New York City abortions were performed on women who did not live in the city.
Seven percent of New York City abortions were obtained by girls under the age of 20, with 5% of total abortions on girls ages 18 or 19 and 2% on girls ages 17 and younger. A quarter of abortions were performed on women ages 20 to 24, and 28% were on women ages 25 to 29. Twenty-two percent were obtained by women ages 30 to 34, and 13% by women ages 35 to 39. Five percent were on women ages 40 or older.
Non-Hispanic black women underwent the largest percentage of abortions in New York City in 2021, accounting for 40% of the total. Ten percent of the abortions were obtained by non-Hispanic white women, and 28% by Hispanic women. Five percent were performed on Asian or Pacific Islander women, and 5% were on women of other races. Race was not reported for 12% of the abortions. CLI estimates that New York City’s non-Hispanic black abortion rate was 38.6 abortions per 1,000 women ages 15 to 44, six times the non-Hispanic white rate of 6.6. Sixty-six percent of New York City abortions were on unmarried women, and 13% were on married women, while marital status was not reported for 21% of the abortions.
Forty-four percent of the abortions reported in New York City occurred at six weeks of gestation or earlier. Twenty-nine percent were performed between seven and eight weeks, and 12% were reported between nine and 10weeks of gestation. Five percent occurred between 11 and 12 weeks, and 4% were reported between 13 and 15 weeks. Three percent of New York City abortions occurred between 16 and 20weeks of gestation. There were 767 abortions (2% of the total) reported at 21 weeks of gestation or later, the highest total amongst the 41 reporting areas that reported such data to the CDC for its 2021 abortion surveillance report.
The largest portion of New York City abortions occurred in Manhattan (43%). Twenty-four percent were performed in Queens, 21% in Brooklyn, and 12% in the Bronx. Under half a percent were performed on Staten Island. This data is different from the resident data described in the first paragraph of this section, as this data describes where abortions were performed in the city while the resident data describes the residency status of women who had abortions in New York City.
Pregnancy Outcomes by Race
The non-Hispanic black abortion ratio was much higher than the non-Hispanic white abortion ratio in New York City. There were 850 abortions per 1,000 live births to non-Hispanic black women in 2021, compared to 101 among non-Hispanic white women. The black abortion ratio increased by 10% from 2020 and the white abortion ratio decreased by 8%. Furthermore, these calculations likely underestimate the percentage of pregnancies ending in abortion because New York City abortion data is exceedingly incomplete, with race unreported for 12% of abortions that occurred in New York City in 2021.
| % of preg. ending in abortions | % of preg. ending in miscarriage | % of preg. ending in live births | |
| Non-Hispanic Black | 44% | 4% | 52% |
| Non-Hispanic White | 9% | 4% | 88% |
| Hispanic | 26% | 4% | 70% |
| Asian/Pacific Islander | 11% | 3% | 86% |
The percentages were calculated from data provided by New York City’s Bureau of Vital Statistics in Table PO21, “Pregnancy Outcomes, Pregnancy Outcome Rates, and Pregnancy Rates by Woman’s Age Group, Racial/Ethnic Group, and Borough of Residence, New York City, 2021.”
Legislative Changes
In October 2023, New York City Mayor Eric Adams announced that the city’s public health system and hospitals would start offering abortion via telehealth, making it the first public health system in the nation to do so. Residents are now able to obtain abortion drugs through the mail using a website created by the city.
State Ranking
In 2016, CLI evaluated abortion reporting across the county, and New York City was ranked at 31st best. New York City could improve its reporting by ensuring that abortion pills sent via mail are reported to the city. This could be done by reviewing the city’s abortion reporting requirements to make sure that the requirements are applicable to all practitioners who prescribe an abortion-inducing drug to New York women, regardless of where the abortion provider is physically located.
- National rates were calculated by the Guttmacher Institute. New York City rates were calculated by CLI using the following formula: (total number of abortions performed in New York City ÷ number of resident women ages 15-44) x 1,000. Rates may differ slightly from previous CLI articles due to revised population estimates. Population estimates were obtained from CDC WONDER. Estimates for 2005-2009 are intercensal estimates of the July 1 resident population. Estimates for 2010-2020 are Vintage 2020 postcensal estimates of the July 1 resident population. Estimates were produced by the U.S. Census Bureau and the National Center for Health Statistics. 2021 population estimates were calculated using totals from Table PC2, “Population Estimates by Age, Mutually Exclusive Race and Hispanic/Latino Origin, and Sex, New York City, 2021,” within New York City’s 2021 vital statistics summary. The CDC’s single-race 2021 population estimates did not include estimates for NYC, so the population estimates of women ages 15 to 44 in New York City were taken from the city’s vital statistics report.
