Abortions performed in the United States have dropped to 1.2 million in 2005, numbers not seen since 1976. And people from both sides of the issue are taking credit.

Guttmacher Institute’s, Rachel K. Jones, says, “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,”

Randall K. O’Bannon of the National Right to Life Committee says, “It’s still a massive number, but it’s moving in the right direction… Even look at Hollywood,” he said, citing the hit movie Juno, about a pregnant teenager who decides to have her baby. “More and more people are starting to reconsider their positions.”

[A]dvocates said they were encouraged by the increased availability of mifepristone, which they said has been shown to be 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 U.S. counties, accounting for 35 percent of women ages 15 to 44, do not have an abortion provider, the report found.

Email this Post  | RSS 2.0  |  Trackback  |  Filed under: Abortion