WASHINGTON — 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 drop was driven by a decline in the overall rate at which women are getting abortions. That rate fell about 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, at least in part because of the availability of the controversial abortion pill RU-486, the report found. Physicians who do not perform surgical abortions but provide RU-486 to their patients are still counted as abortion providers.
The report itself did not identify reasons for the drop in abortions, but the researchers said it could be due to 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, which published the report in the March issue of the journal Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health.
Morning-after pill
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.”
“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, adding that at least some of the drop may be due to changing attitudes.
“Even look at Hollywood,” said O’Bannon, 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 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,” Poppema 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.
Roe anniversary
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 abortion 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 vs. 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 anti-abortion 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’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 across the country, tending to be higher in the Northeast and lower in the South and Midwest. The rate in Washington, D.C., dropped 20 percent but remained higher than any other state at 54.2.
