Washington Post,
January 17, 2008
Number
of abortions lowest in decades
By Rob Stein
WASHINGTON -
The number of abortions being performed in the United States has
dropped to 1.2 million a year - the lowest level since 1976, according
to a new report.
The drop was
driven by a decline in the overall rate at which women of childbearing
age are getting abortions, which fell about 9 percent between
2000 and 2005, according to a nationwide survey. At the same time,
the long decline in the number of abortion providers appears to
be stabilizing, at least in part because of the availability of
the controversial abortion pill RU 486, the report found.
The report did
not identify reasons for the drop in abortions, but the researchers
said it could be a combination of factors.
"It could
be more women using contraception and not having as many unintended
pregnancies. It could be more restrictions on abortions, making
it more difficult for women to obtain abortion services. It could
be a combination of these and other dynamics," said Rachel
Jones of the Guttmacher Institute, a reproductive-health research
organization publishing the report in the March issue of the journal
Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health.
Whatever the
reasons, the trend was welcomed by both antiabortion and abortion
rights advocates.
"This study
shows that prevention works, and that's what we provide in our
health centers every day," said Cecile Richard of Planned
Parenthood Federation of America. "At the end of the day,
Americans of all stripes believe that we need to do more to prevent
unintended pregnancy and make healthcare affordable and accessible."
"It's still
a massive number, but it's moving in the right direction,"
said Randall O'Bannon of the National Right to Life Committee.
He said that at least some of the drop may reflect changing attitudes.
"Even look
at Hollywood," said O'Bannon, citing the hit movie, "Juno,"
about a pregnant teenager who decides against abortion. "More
and more people are starting to reconsider their positions."
Suzanne Poppema
of Physicians for Reproductive Health and Choice speculated that
wider availability of the so-called morning-after pill also might
be playing a role.
"I would
like to say that it's at least partially due to increased availability
of emergency contraception, which is a really good addition to
reproductive healthcare in this country," Poppema said. The
emergency contraceptive, a high dose of standard birth control
pills, can prevent pregnancy if taken within 72 hours of having
unprotected sex.
The report was
based on a survey of all known abortion providers the Guttmacher
Institute has been conducting regularly since 1974, and is considered
one of the most authoritative sources of data on abortions in
the United States. The latest survey, of 1,787 providers, was
conducted in 2005 and was the first since 2000.
The total number
of abortions among women ages 15 to 44 declined from 1.3 million
in 2000 to 1.2 million in 2005, an 8 percent drop that continued
a trend that began in 1990, when the number of abortions peaked
at more than 1.6 million, the survey found. The last time the
number of abortions was that low was 1976, when slightly fewer
than 1.2 million were performed.
The abortion
rate fell from 21.3 per 1,000 women ages 15 to 44 in 2000 to 19.4
in 2005, a 9 percent decline. That's the lowest since 1974, when
the rate was 19.3, and far below the 1981 peak of 29.3.
The abortion
rate varies widely around the country, tending to be higher in
the Northeast and lower in the South and Midwest.
The fall occurred
amid a continued decline in the number of abortion providers.
It slipped 2 percent since the last survey, but that drop was
much smaller than in previous years.
Jones noted
the introduction of the French abortion pill RU 486, now more
commonly known as mifepristone. The drug, which was approved in
2000, allows women to terminate their pregnancies without the
need for a surgical procedure.
"We found
that there were providers who previously didn't offer surgical
abortions and are now only providing early medical abortions,"
Jones said. "If it wasn't for those providers, the number
of providers would have declined by far more."
By 2005, 57
percent of abortion providers were offering the drug, accounting
for 13 percent of abortions, the report found.
That trend was
disturbing to O'Bannon of the National Right to Life Committee,
who questioned the safety of the drug. "It disturbs me that
there are clinics that may not have been doing abortions before
and are doing them now and that there are doctors who may not
have been doing abortions before but are now," he said.
But advocates
were encouraged by the increased availability of mifepristone,
which they said has been shown to be both highly effective and
safe.
"One of
the objections to the abortion pill was that it was going to cause
the abortion rate to go sky high. But this shows that didn't happen,"
Poppema said.
Nevertheless,
87 percent of US counties, accounting for 35 percent of women
ages 15 to 44, do not have an abortion provider, the report found.
"We remain
alarmed that, 35 years after Roe v. Wade, so many abortion providers
continue to be out of reach to many American women, especially
those in rural and underserved communities," said Nancy Keenan,
president of NARAL Pro-Choice America, an abortion rights organization.
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