U.S. abortions at 30-year low Chris Rizo ReligionAndSpirituality.com
The abortion rate in the United States fell to its lowest level in more than 30 years as the number of doctors who provide the operations continued to decline, according to a new study.
There were 1.2 million abortions, or 19.4 for every 1,000 women of reproductive age, in 2005, according to research by the New York-based Guttmacher Institute, a non-profit group focused on reproductive health. "Our policymakers at the state and federal levels need to understand that behind virtually every abortion is an unintended pregnancy, so we must redouble our efforts towards prevention, through better access to contraception," Sharon Camp, president and CEO of the Guttmacher Institute, said in a statement.
The abortion rate was highest in the District of Columbia, where 54.2 of every 1,000 women terminated a pregnancy, the study found. The lowest rate, less than one per 1,000, was in Wyoming. The decline in abortions is attributed to increased access to birth control and medical care.
Additionally, 87 percent of U.S. counties didn't have an abortion provider in 2005, up from 77 percent in 1978, according to the study published in the journal Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health. There was a peak of 1.6 million abortions, or 27.4 per 1,000 women, in 1990, the study said.
About 1,026 facilities provided medical abortions in 2005, or 70 percent more than offered the option in 2000, the study found. "For a long time, nearly 90 percent of abortions in the U.S. have taken place in the first trimester, but in recent years, women having an abortion have been able to do so earlier and earlier in the first trimester," said Rachel Jones, the lead researcher in the new survey.
Currently, more than six in 10 abortions occur within the first eight weeks of pregnancy, and almost three in 10 are performed at six weeks or earlier, she said. "Medication abortion, which provides women with an additional option early in pregnancy, clearly reinforces this very positive trend," Jones said.
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