Abortion statistics
Abortion is defined as foetal loss excluding stillbirths, usually during the first 20 weeks of gestation. Induced abortions are those initiated voluntarily with the intention of terminating a pregnancy. All other abortions are called spontaneous, even if an external cause is involved, such as injury or high fever.
All abortion statistics and derived abortion rates included in this release are based on legally induced abortions registered in New Zealand. No information is available on spontaneous or illegal abortions.
Grounds for abortion
In New Zealand the grounds on which an abortion is permitted are described in the Contraception, Sterilisation, and Abortion Act 1977 and in section 187A of the Crimes Act 1961.
In any year, 98–99 percent of all abortions are performed because of serious danger to the mental health of the woman.
Source of abortion statistics
Abortion statistics are obtained from the Abortion Supervisory Committee. For every abortion carried out as approved under the Contraception, Sterilisation, and Abortion Act 1977, a 'Notification of Abortion' form (ASC Form No. 4) must be filled in by the licensed abortion institution. This is then sent to the Abortion Supervisory Committee.
Changes in the collection of abortion statistics
Changes have also been made in the collection of ethnic data. The ethnic question from 2002 onwards aligns with the 2001 Census question on ethnicity. In this release, each abortion has been included in every ethnic group specified. For this reason, some abortions are counted more than once and ethnic group totals sum to more than the New Zealand total. Ethnic data for 2002 onwards is not strictly comparable with ethnic data for earlier years.
In 2004, a new question asking for 'domicile code' was added to ASC Form No 4. However, due to different rates of 'not specified region' across hospitals, regional data should be interpreted with care.
Live births
Live births refer to live births registered in New Zealand by date of registration.
Rounding
Abortion figures contained in the tables attached to this release are unrounded. All other figures have been rounded. Derived figures (for example, abortion rates and ratios) have been calculated using unrounded data.
More information
For more information, follow the link from the Technical Notes of this release on the Statistics New Zealand website.
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