Show Fewer abortions performed in US U.S. study says Rob Hob Stein The W Washington Post The number of abortions performed in the United States dropped to 12 million in 2005 the the lowest level since 1976 according to a new report The number of abortions fell tell 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 Jevel level since 1975 according to 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 French abortion pill RU the report found because some physicians who do not perform surgical abortions provide it to their patients The report itself did not identify reasons for the drop in abortions but the researchers said it could be due to 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 cs said Rachel Jones of the Guttmacher Institute a reproductive-health reproductive 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 both abortion opponents and abortion rights advocates This study shows that prevention works and that's what we provide in our health centers every everyday everyday everyday day said Cecile Richard of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America At Atthe Atthe Atthe 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 Its still a massive number but its it's moving in inthe inthe inthe the right direction said Randall K OBannon 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 s said id OBannon 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 of Physicians for Reproductive Choice and Health speculated that wider availability of the morning morning- after atter pill also might be playing a role I would like to say that its 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 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 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 1787 providers was conducted in 2005 and was the first since 2000 The new data were rere released less than a week before the anniversary of the Supreme Courts Court's Roe v. 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 ned from 13 million in 2000 to 12 million in 2005 an 8 percent drop that continued a trend that began in 1990 when the number of abortions peaked at more than 16 million the survey found The last time the number of abortions was that low was 1976 when slightly fewer than 12 million abortions were performed The abortion rate fell from per 1000 women ages 15 to 44 in 2000 to in 2005 a 9 percent decline Thais That's the lowest since 1974 when the rate was and far below the 1981 peak of The abortion rate varies widely around the country tending to be higher in hi the Northeast and lower in hi the South and Midwest The rate in Washington DC D.C. dropped 20 percent but remained higher than that of any state at Virginias Virginia's rate fell 9 percent to while Maryland's rate rose 8 percent to The proportion on of pregnancies ending in abortion also declined falling from percent of pregnancies in 2000 to percent in 2005 a 9 percent drop and down from froma a high of in 1983 The fall came despite a continued decline in inthe inthe inthe the number of abortion providers It slipped 2 percent since the last survey but that drop was much smaller than in previous years Jones attributed the slower decline to the introduction of RU also known as The drug which was approved in 2000 allows 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 f abortions the report found That trend was troubling to OBannon who questioned the safety of the drug It disturbs me that that there are clinics that 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 arenow arenow arenow now he e said But advocates said they were encouraged by the increased availability of which they said has been shown to be both highly effective and safe One of the objections to to the abortion pill was th that t tit it was going to cause the abortion rate to go sky high But this shows that didn't happen said |