Incidence of Induced Abortion by Age and State, Mexico, 2009: New Estimates Using a Modified Methodology

International Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health 62 were performed in Mexico in 2006, equivalent to an abortion rate of 33 per 1,000.5 To assess the impact of our methodological improvements on our estimates, we applied the 2009 methodology to the 2006 data. The new methodology yielded a somewhat higher abortion rate of 37 per 1,000 for 2006. This rate is only 2.1% lower than that for 2009, indicating that very little change in abortion incidence occurred during that time. We also assessed the impact of our second important methodological change—combining Mexico City with the bordering Mexico State to take into account women’s traveling across state lines for postabortion care. Applying the 2009 methodology to 2006 data yielded a rate of 55 per 1,000 women for Mexico City, almost identical to the 2009 rate of 54, indicating essentially no change in the city’s abortion rate (not shown). The difference between the revised 2006 estimate and the far lower rate previously estimated (34 per 1,000)5 is therefore solely the result of the new methodology. However, this stability in the overall rate conceals an important positive change—that 16,475 safe, legal public-sector abortions were performed in Mexico City in 2009,18 accounting for 14% of all abortions in the city.