According to a Health Ministry report, the rate of abortions in Israel continues to be on a downtrend. In 2014 close to 17,500 pregnancy terminations were issued, 1% fewer terminations than in 2013, and a full 20% fewer than in 2000. According to the report, half the pregnancy terminations in 2014 were in cases in which the conception was done under criminal circumstances. The other reasons were an extramarital conception and the woman’s health.
According to the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), in 2013 there were 18,263 appeals to the committee on pregnancy terminations, of which about 98.8% were approved. The appeals constituted 9.6% of the known pregnancies, a rate which has been on a downtrend since 1988. The highest rates of appeals for an abortion was in ages 20 to 34, the lowest from age 40 and up.
Compared with the rest of the world, Israel has a low abortion rate. According to the CBS, in 2013 9.6 out of every 1,000 pregnant women appealed for an abortion, compared with 18.6 in 1988. In the US the rate is roughly 16 out of every 1,000, in Canada 15.
Efrat is an Israeli organization whose goal is to inform women faced with an unwanted pregnancy that there are choices, and not all unwanted pregnancies must end with an abortion. According to its website, since 1977, Efrat has saved the lives of more than 64,000 Jewish children.