The Associated Press
, January 11, 2011
US
abortion rate stalls after years of decline
By DAVID CRARY
The long-term decline
in the U.S. abortion rate stalled as the recession took hold,
according to the latest comprehensive survey of America's abortion
providers.
The Guttmacher Institute,
which periodically surveys U.S. abortion providers, reported Tuesday
that there were 1.21 million abortions in 2008 and a rate of 19.6
abortions per 1,000 women aged 15-44.
Both figures were up
slightly from the previous 2005 survey, ending a steady decline
since 1990, when U.S. abortions peaked at 1.6 million and the
abortion rate was 27.4.
One possible factor
was the recession that hit in 2008, altering the financial prospects
for many families.
"Abortion numbers
go down when the economy is good and go up when the economy is
bad, so the stalling may be a function of a weaker economy,"
said University of Alabama political science professor Michael
New. "If the economy does better, you'll see numbers trending
down again."
The Guttmacher Institute
supports abortion rights, but its surveys are widely considered
to be the most comprehensive available because federal agencies
rely on incomplete data from state governments.
Sharon Camp, the institute's
president, said the stalled numbers should serve as an "urgent
message" to policymakers that access to contraceptive services
should be increased to prevent unintended pregnancy.
Many anti-abortion
activists have opposed this approach, saying abortion rates can
best be lowered through abstinence-only sex education and tougher
state-level restrictions on abortion.
Many states have expanded
restrictions in recent years, and others will be considering such
steps in the aftermath of conservative gains in legislatures in
the Nov. 2 elections. For example, lawmakers in several states
would like to emulate Nebraska in outlawing abortion after 20
weeks of pregnancy based on the premise that fetuses can feel
pain after that point.
"We know that
it makes a difference what the law says in any particular state,"
said Charmaine Yoest, president of Americans United for Life.
"You can see dramatic decreases in abortion."
Elizabeth Nash, a Guttmacher
public policy associate, said the restrictive state laws tend
to have little impact on affluent and middle-class women.
"What they end
up doing is targeting the most vulnerable women the ones without
resources to go other places," she said.
The new Guttmacher
report documented sharp variations by state with abortion rates
over 30 percent in Delaware, New York and New Jersey and at or
below 6 percent in Wyoming, Mississippi, Kentucky, South Dakota
and Idaho.
The report also documented
a significant increase in early medication abortion, entailing
use of the so-called abortion pill. The number of such procedures
performed in clinics which provide 94 percent of all abortions
rose from 161,000 to 199,000 between 2005 and 2008, accounting
for about 17 percent of abortions.
Initially known as
RU-486, the pill was approved for use in the U.S. in September
2000. Affording women more privacy than a surgical abortion, the
pill marketed as Mifeprex now accounts for about one-quarter of
U.S. abortions performed in the first nine weeks of pregnancy.
"U.S. government
reports have shown that abortions are increasingly occurring earlier
in pregnancy, when the procedure is safest," said Rachel
Jones, lead author of the Guttmacher study. "Increased access
to medication abortion is helping to accelerate that trend."
According to the new
study, the number of abortion providers changed little from 1,787
to 1,793 between 2005 and 2008. As was the case before, 87 percent
of U.S. counties home to 35 percent of women of reproductive age
had no abortion provider.
The new report did
not provide demographic details on the ages, ethnicity and socio-economic
status of women obtaining abortions, but Sharon Camp said it was
clear that African-American and Hispanic women continued to account
for a disproportionate share of abortions because they had relatively
high rates of unintended pregnancies.
She remarked that abortion,
since it was legalized nationwide in 1973, has become one of the
most common surgical procedures.
"Yet after all
these years," she said, "it remains maybe the most highly
sensitive issue in our country on the personal and political level."
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