New report of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) shows that abortion rates in the United States have dropped to historic lows. Data from all 50 states have been analyzed. The numbers indicate that in the period between 2013 and 2014, the national abortion rate dropped by two percent. A total of 652,639 abortions occurred in 2014 at rate of 12.1 abortions per one thousand women between the ages of 15 and 44, or at rate of 186 abortions per live births, Newsweek informs.
According to the report, most of the women who decided to abort their baby were in their 20s. Majority of the abortions were performed before 13 weeks gestation. But, the report shows that there is a four percent increase in women over the age of 40 terminating pregnancies.
“Given the small proportion of abortions that are performed later in gestation among women aged over 40 years, which potentially might be completed for maternal medical indications or fetal anomalies, the continuing high abortion ratio among these older women suggests that unintended pregnancy is a problem that women encounter throughout their reproductive years,” the report says.
Analysis of the Guttmacher Institute have previously shown that for most of the American women the access to abortion services was unchanged in the period between 2000 and 2014. Google searches for self-induced abortions are higher in areas with poor access to health facilities that perform legal abortions. According to Guttmacher, the use of contraceptive methods increased in the period between 2000 and 2014.
“Our new data suggest that recent declines in teens’ risk of pregnancy—and in their pregnancy rates—are driven by increased contraceptive use,” said Laura Lindberg, a principal research scientist with the institute.
Infant mortality rates have also hit all-time low with six deaths per one thousand births.
Be the first to comment