"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

..and it could be that more and more women are speaking out about abortions harm and people are finally seeing the whole truth…

Number of abortions lowest in
decades

1.2 million performed per year, study
says

By Rob Stein, Washington Post  | 
January 17, 2008

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.