Abortions down in U.S. and everyone wonders why

Jan 20 2008

According to a new national study abortions in the U.S. are decreasing.

The study by Guttmacher Institute researchers found that in 2005 the total number of abortions fell to a total of 1.2 million in 2005, way below the all-time high of 1.6 million abortions in 1990.

The researchers used surveys from all abortion providers they were able to find along with data from the U.S. Census Bureau, in order to calculate rates.

For women between the ages of 15 to 44, the abortion rate fell to 19.4 abortions per 1,000 women, the lowest level since 1974.

The researchers say it is unclear why the abortion rates have dropped but suggest two possible factors.

They say easier access to contraception including emergency contraception such as the pill Plan B means there are fewer unwanted pregnancies.

Women can have abortions surgically or by using a combination of drugs to induce a miscarriage and using the drugs accounted for 13 percent of all abortions.

But they say another reason could be that there are also fewer abortion clinics.

Those in support of abortion rights say the decline is the result of the sex education and family planning, while anti-abortionists suggest more women are realising the horror of abortion, partly because of so-called crisis pregnancy centers, set up near abortion clinics which encourage women to keep their babies.

The researchers believe politics aside the study indicates that on a personal level, women are choosing to have fewer abortions.

The report also says that slightly more than one in five pregnancies end in abortion, which indicates that unwanted pregnancy is still too common in the United States.

The Guttmacher Institute researches issues related to reproductive health and sexuality.