U.S. Abortion Rate Hits Lowest Level Since 1973

2/5/14
 
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from Guttmacher Institute,
2/3/14:

2008–2011 Decline Spans Almost All States

Report Suggests State-level Restrictions Are Not the Cause

Early Medication Abortion Makes Up an Increasing Proportion of All Abortions

The U.S. abortion rate declined to 16.9 abortions per 1,000 women aged 15–44 in 2011, well below the 1981 peak of 29.3 per 1,000 and the lowest since 1973 (16.3 per 1,000), according to “Abortion Incidence and Service Availability in the United States, 2011,” by Rachel Jones and Jenna Jerman. Between 2008 and 2011, the abortion rate fell 13%, resuming the long-term downward trend that had stalled between 2005 and 2008. The number of abortions (1.1 million in 2011) also declined by 13% in this time period.

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