The number of abortions performed in the United States dropped to 1.2
million in 2005 — the lowest level since 1976, according to a new
report. The number of abortions fell at least in part because the proportion
of women ending their pregnancies with an abortion dropped 9 percent
between 2000 and 2005, hitting the lowest level since 1975, according
to a nationwide survey.

At the same time, the long decline in the number of abortion providers
appears to be stabilizing, partly a result of the availability of the
French abortion pill RU-486, the report found, because some physicians
who do not perform surgical abortions provide it to their patients.

The report did not identify reasons for the drop in abortions, but
the researchers said it could be caused by 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 K.
Jones of the Guttmacher Institute,
a reproductive-health research organization, which published the report
in the March issue of the journal Perspectives on Sexual and
Reproductive Health.

Whatever the reasons, the trend was welcomed by abortion opponents 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 the 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 health care
affordable and accessible."

Said Randall K. O’Bannon of the National Right to Life Committee:
"It’s still a massive number, but it’s moving in the right direction."
He added that at least some of the drop may be the result of changing
attitudes.

"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."

Suzanne T. Poppema of Physicians for Reproductive Choice and Health
speculated that wider availability of the 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 health care in this country," she said. The
emergency contraceptive known as Plan B, a high dose of standard birth
control pills, can prevent pregnancy if taken within 72 hours of
unprotected sex.

The report was based on a survey, conducted regularly since the
1970s, of all abortion providers known to the Guttmacher Institute. It
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 new data were released less than a week before the 35th anniversary of the Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade
decision, which struck down many state restrictions on abortion,
triggering a surge in the procedures. Supporters and opponents of the
decision are planning numerous events to mark the anniversary,
including three days of activities in Washington, involving thousands
of antiabortion activists, beginning this weekend.

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 abortions 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 is 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 rate in
the District dropped 20 percent but remained higher than that of any
state at 54.2. Virginia’s rate fell 9 percent, to 16.5, while Maryland’s rate rose 8 percent, to 31.5.

The proportion of pregnancies ending in abortion also declined, falling
from 24.5 percent in 2000 to 22.4 percent in 2005 — a 9 percent drop
and down from a high of 30.4 in 1983.

The sharp fall came despite a comparatively tiny decline in the
number of abortion providers. There were 2 percent fewer providers than
in the previous survey, but that drop was much smaller than in prior
studies.

Jones attributed the slower decline to the introduction of RU-486,
also 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 troubling to O’Bannon, 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 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.

Via the Washington Post