In Orange County, there were 253 people who received abortions in 2020, according to the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services. Of those people, 31 percent were Black, despite Black people making up only about 12 percent of the county.
Comparatively, non-Hispanic white people received 41 percent of the abortions performed that year, while white individuals make up about 70 percent of the county.
Women seek out abortions for a variety of reasons. According to a study conducted by the Guttmacher Institute, the most common reasons for having an abortion include — having a baby would dramatically change their life, not being able to afford a baby and having relationship problems. Other reasons include the health of the mother, interfering with education and being unemployed.
The higher proportion of Black people receiving abortions in Orange County aligns with North Carolina's abortion demographics.
According to the NCDHHS, a total of 25,058 abortions were performed in North Carolina in 2020.
About 49 percent of all abortions performed in North Carolina in 2020 were on Black individuals, and white people accounted for 28 percent of the total abortions. However, according to the U.S. Census Bureau in 2020, white people made up about 62 percent of the N.C. population, while Black individuals made up about 20 percent of the state's population.
