Every year, American women have 1.5 million unplanned pregnancies

Having a baby is expensive. The average total price for pregnancy and newborn care is about $30,000 for vaginal deliveries and $50,000 for C-sections.

State and federal governments cover the these costs for about half of all pregnancies in the United States. And a new analysis from the Guttmacher Institute shows that, in 2010, $21 billion in taxpayer dollars went towards covering the costs of unintended pregnancy.

The government pays for 68 percent of unintended pregnancies

(The Guttmacher Institute)

There were roughly 4 million pregnancies in the United States in 2010.  Of those, 1.5 million were unplanned. Government programs (mostly Medicaid) tend to foot the bill for a higher proportions of unplanned pregnancies, paying the health care costs for two-thirds of the 1.5 million unplanned pregnancies — including those ending in birth, miscarriage and abortion.

19 states spent at least $400 million on unintended pregnancies

(The Guttmacher Institute)

Texas has the highest spending on unintended births; Guttmacher estimates that $2.9 billion in state and federal funds get spent annually on women's care. California is next ($1.7 billion) followed by New York ($1.5 billion) and Florida ($1.3 billion).

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