The total number of legal abortions has remained relatively stable since 1980, while birth rates for women of all ages have increased. Women 20-24 years of age have the highest total number of abortions of any age group, because they have the highest rate of pregnancy. Reproductive Tract Disorders More than 10 percent of all hospitalizations among women of reproductive age are due to reproductive tract disorders. In 1992, approximately 560,000 women received a hysterectomy, the most common non-obstetrical surgical procedure performed on women in the United States. One-third of all U.S. women have a hysterectomy by age 60 and 14 percent of women have both ovaries removed by this age as well, making them more prone to osteoporosis and heart disease, unless estrogen replacement therapy is begun and continued.
Fibroid tumors are the most common pelvic tumors occurring in women.
They affect up to 40 percent of women and are more common in African American women than white women. They are often associated with menstrual abnormalities and pelvic pressure or pain and may be associated with infertility, spontaneous abortion, and premature delivery. Endometriosis affects over 5 million women in the United States yearly, occurring among all socioeconomic and ethnic groups. It causes countless women to suffer from pain during intercourse, pelvic pain, dysmenorrhea, and infertility. In attempts to cure the disease, over 1.5 million hysterectomies were performed on young women between 1970 and the early 1980s.