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US abortion rate levels off after 30-year decline
Source: Agencies |
January 12, 2011, Wednesday
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THE US abortion rate has leveled off after nearly 30 years of steady decline, according to a report released yesterday.
At the same time, the proportion of early drug-induced abortions has increased, said Rachel Jones, spokeswoman for the Guttmacher Institute, an organization aimed at advancing sexual health that released the report.
The Guttmacher Institute study of women in the United States showed that in 2008, the most recent year for which data were available, the abortion rate stood at 19.6 abortions per 1,000 women aged 15 to 44, virtually unchanged from the 2005 rate of 19.4 abortions.
It marked the first time since 1981, when the rate peaked at 29.3 abortions, that the numbers have not declined.
Similarly, the total number of abortions in 2008, 1.21 million, remained essentially unchanged from 2005.
Jones said three factors may explain why the longtime decline in abortions has ended.
"We know that teen births, which were declining, have kind of stalled. Also, there appears to be no improvement in contraceptive use," Jones said.
She said the third factor is that abortion is concentrated increasingly among poor women.
"With the recession in 2008, a poor woman may have lost her health insurance, lost her ability to get contraception, may have been confronted with a pregnancy that in better times she might be able to carry to term," she said.
Planned Parenthood Federation of America said the leading reason the abortion decline was derailed is American women's lack of access to affordable contraception.
"While many factors contribute to the abortion rate in the United States, this country's very high rate of unintended pregnancy is the most important one of all," Planned Parenthood said in a statement released in response to the study.
"The most effective way to prevent unintended pregnancy, and reduce the need for abortion, is to improve access to affordable birth control."
Anti-abortion advocates, however, said any decrease in abortion was the result of their legislative and educational efforts and their efforts to encourage pregnant women to bear children rather than seek abortion.
"We must continue to be vigilant in our efforts to educate the public and enact laws that protect unborn children and their mothers," Randall O'Bannon, National Right to Life Committee director of education and research, said in a statement.
At the same time, the proportion of early drug-induced abortions has increased, said Rachel Jones, spokeswoman for the Guttmacher Institute, an organization aimed at advancing sexual health that released the report.
The Guttmacher Institute study of women in the United States showed that in 2008, the most recent year for which data were available, the abortion rate stood at 19.6 abortions per 1,000 women aged 15 to 44, virtually unchanged from the 2005 rate of 19.4 abortions.
It marked the first time since 1981, when the rate peaked at 29.3 abortions, that the numbers have not declined.
Similarly, the total number of abortions in 2008, 1.21 million, remained essentially unchanged from 2005.
Jones said three factors may explain why the longtime decline in abortions has ended.
"We know that teen births, which were declining, have kind of stalled. Also, there appears to be no improvement in contraceptive use," Jones said.
She said the third factor is that abortion is concentrated increasingly among poor women.
"With the recession in 2008, a poor woman may have lost her health insurance, lost her ability to get contraception, may have been confronted with a pregnancy that in better times she might be able to carry to term," she said.
Planned Parenthood Federation of America said the leading reason the abortion decline was derailed is American women's lack of access to affordable contraception.
"While many factors contribute to the abortion rate in the United States, this country's very high rate of unintended pregnancy is the most important one of all," Planned Parenthood said in a statement released in response to the study.
"The most effective way to prevent unintended pregnancy, and reduce the need for abortion, is to improve access to affordable birth control."
Anti-abortion advocates, however, said any decrease in abortion was the result of their legislative and educational efforts and their efforts to encourage pregnant women to bear children rather than seek abortion.
"We must continue to be vigilant in our efforts to educate the public and enact laws that protect unborn children and their mothers," Randall O'Bannon, National Right to Life Committee director of education and research, said in a statement.
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