# Abortion and Adoption Counts: data dictionary

`data.csv`: 229 rows, one value per row, UTF-8 with a byte-order mark so Excel shows en dashes correctly. Compiled 28 October 2026. 170 rows are drawn on the charts; the rest are kept for context and provenance.

| Column | Meaning |
|---|---|
| `series` | One definition from one source family (see below). Do not add series together. |
| `year`, `year_end` | Inclusive period. `year_end` is set only for five-year periods, whose values are annual averages, not totals. |
| `value` | The figure as published. Blank when the source gives only a range. |
| `low`, `high` | The range around the value, or the range of published estimates. |
| `interval` | What the range means: `80% uncertainty interval`, `90% uncertainty interval`, `range of published estimates` or `range of estimates`. |
| `unit` | What is counted, e.g. `abortions per year`, `abortions per 1,000 women aged 15-49`. |
| `status` | `reported`, `estimate`, `model estimate`, `reported aggregate` or `superseded estimate`. |
| `coverage` | Places or reporters covered, e.g. `10 reporting states`, `Receiving countries reporting to Selman: 23`. |
| `plotted` | `yes` if drawn on the charts, `no` if kept as context. |
| `source`, `source_url` | Row-level citation and link. |
| `note` | Comparability caveats. |

| Series | Years | Charted | What it is |
|---|---|---|---|
| `us_abortion_illegal_estimate` | 1955–1972 | yes | Published estimates of illegal abortions before legalization |
| `us_abortion_cdc` | 1969–2022 | 1969–72 only | Legal abortions reported to CDC; partial before 1973; from 1997 only areas that reported every year (see `coverage`) |
| `us_abortion_cdc_all_areas` | 2022 | no | CDC total from all 48 reporting areas (613,383), for comparison with the 47-area figure |
| `us_abortion` | 1973–2020, 2023–25 | yes | Guttmacher estimates of abortions in clinical settings; no national estimate for 2021–22; 2023 predates counting telehealth into ban states |
| `us_adoption` | 1944–2022 | yes | National estimates of all adoptions, incl. relatives and stepparents; methods vary |
| `world_abortion_rate` | 1990–2019 | yes | Bearak et al. 2020, one model, per 1,000 women aged 15–49 |
| `world_abortion` | 2010–2019 | no | Bearak et al. 2020 counts, cited in text |
| `world_abortion_superseded` | 1987–2014 | no | Older studies with different methods; never join with the 2020 model |
| `world_intercountry_adoption` | 1988–2022 | yes | Total for receiving countries reporting to Selman (18–25 countries) |
| `us_intercountry_adoption` | 1970–2025 | yes | Into the US, by fiscal year; a subset of the world total, do not add the two |

Known source discrepancies are kept rather than reconciled. For example, Bearak et al. give the 2015–19 rate interval as 36–44 in the abstract but 35–44 in Table 1, and the CSV uses Table 1. Rates for 1995–2014 are read from that study's Figure 2, which publishes no interval.

Charts join points only for consecutive years from the same source; US intercountry figures are treated as one method family (State Department fiscal-year counts). No interpolation was added for the charts; some annual figures were estimated or interpolated by their sources.