NEW YORK CITY RELEASES 2010 ABORTION DATA;

LITTLE PROGRESS FROM PREVIOUS YEAR

City Pregnancies Ending in Abortion 40%, Down from 41% in 2009

48% in the Bronx and 60% Among African-Americans, Same as in 2009

New York, NY, January 5...More than 83,000 abortions were performed in New York City in 2010 - a full 40% of all pregnancies - down from 41% in 2009 - the New York City-based Chiaroscuro Foundation, a not-for-profit organization that supports alternatives to abortion, today said.  The 2010 data was just released to the public by the New York City Department of Health. For the first time ever, the abortion and pregnancy statistics were itemized separately as requested by the Foundation one year ago this week.

"We are glad that fewer abortions were performed in 2010, following a national trend over the past couple of decades, but obviously we would like to see much more significant progress moving forward," said Greg Pfundstein, Executive Director of the Chiaroscuro Foundation. "In parts of the city more than half of all pregnancies end in abortion - this is very, very disturbing."

New York City has the highest abortion rates in the nation - nearly double the national average of 23%.

The Chiaroscuro Foundation, along with the Archdiocese of New York and other civic and religious organizations, last year requested that the city separate the abortion and pregnancy data from the overall vital statistics report. The group also asked that the city release data more swiftly. 2009 statistics were released in December 2010. 2010 statistics were released in December 2011.

"I commend the city for making the extra effort to itemize abortion and pregnancy information separately as we requested last year," said Pfundstein. "It is important for concerned New Yorkers to have ready access to information about the alarming abortion rate in the city. We would also like to see a more speedy reporting process. A 12-month turn around time to compile and release the previous year's data is simply too long for an issue of such great importance. We need information faster so that we can spot trends in our communities - see where things are working and where they aren't."

The city implemented mandatory sex education curriculum for middle and high school students starting this month, in part, to reduce the abortion and pregnancy rate. The public will not know what affect, if any, curriculums implemented this month will have had until December 2013.

A spreadsheet of New York City abortion statistics from 1994-2010 is attached and available here.

According to the most recent statistics, just made available by the New York City Department of Health:

• There were 208,541 pregnancies in New York City in 2010.  They resulted in 124,791 live births and 83,750 abortions, a 40% abortion rate.
• Among non-Hispanic blacks there were far more abortions than births, 38,574 to 26,635, or 60%.   So for every 1,000 African-American babies born, 1,448 were aborted.
• Among Non-Hispanic black teens, the abortion rate was even greater - 5,956 abortions to 2,265 live births, or 72%.  For every 1,000 African-American babies born to teens, 2,630 were aborted.
• The abortion rate among teens as a whole was 63% - 12,139 abortions to 7,207 live births. For every 1,000 babies born among New York City teens 1,684 were aborted.
• 16% of all pregnancies in New York City - 14% of abortions - were with teen mothers.
• 54% of abortions were with mothers in their 20's;
• 30% of abortions were with mothers in their 30's or 40's;
• 14% of abortions were with married mothers.

Two-thirds of New Yorkers (64%) - including 57% of pro-choice women - think too many abortions are taking place in New York City every year, more than half of city residents (51%) would support a 24-hour waiting period before abortion procedures can take place, and 63% of city residents support parental consent before anyone under the age of 18 can have an abortion, according to a comprehensive citywide poll conducted last year by McLaughlin & Associates and released by The Chiaroscuro Foundation.

Chiaroscuro Foundation Urges New Yorkers to

Join Local Efforts to Reduce Rate

New York, NY, July 25…New detailed data on New York City’s staggering 41% abortion ratio –a rate almost twice the national average – show that the zip code with the highest abortion ratio in the city, 67%, is in Manhattan’s Chelsea-Clinton neighborhood. The data were made available today by the Chiaroscuro Foundation, a New York City not-for-profit organization that supports alternatives to abortion.

The data, which was provided by the New York City Department of Health at the Chiaroscuro Foundation’s request, show the abortion rate by the zip code of residence of women receiving abortions in New York City.  An online map of the data can be accessed at www.nyc41percent.com.  The zip code with the highest ratio, 10018, is in the Chelsea-Clinton neighborhood of Manhattan, with a ratio of 67%, followed by rates of 60% in two Jamaica, Queens zip codes and in Manhattan’s Greenwich Village, 10012, and Central Harlem-Morningside Heights neighborhoods. The five zip codes with the lowest abortion ratios are on the Upper East Side, in Lower Manhattan, on the Upper West Side, and in Borough Park, Brooklyn. The lowest ratio, 6.12%, is in 10162. The fifteen highest and lowest zip codes, with selected demographic information, are available here: http://www.nyc41percent.com/Docs/NYC_Highest_and_Lowest_Abortion_Zip_Codes.pdf.

Also at the Chiaroscuro Foundation’s request, the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene revealed that in 2009 48,627 of the 87,273 abortions in New York City, or 56%, were repeat abortions. 33,401, 38%, were paid for by Medicaid.

The Chiaroscuro Foundation is hoping to lower the number of abortions in New York City over time by working with New Yorkers and organizations who agree that the rate of abortion in New York is too high. Sixty-four percent (64%) of New Yorkers believe the abortion rate is too high in New York City – including 57% of pro-choice women – according to a poll conducted by the polling firm McLaughlin & Associates for the Foundation earlier this year.  Seventy four percent believe that the overall 60% abortion rate in the African American community is too high.  (The poll’s margin of error was +/- 3.4%)

“The Chiaroscuro Foundation is grateful to the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene for providing this detailed data; no city in the nation keeps better, more current records,” said Greg Pfundstein Executive Director of the Chiaroscuro Foundation. “ Even so, given the city’s extremely high abortion rate, we renew our call for Mayor Bloomberg to instruct the Department to release the data in an even more current fashion: preliminarily month by month throughout the year. Remember, we are still talking about 2009 data. By being able to measure where the highest rates of abortion are occurring in the city, we can determine over time what methods of outreach work best to lower those rates.”

New York City’s abortion rate abortion rate is nearly double the national average of 23%, a fact to which the Chiaroscuro Foundation has been drawing attention since the 2009 data were released in January.