Abortion rates in the US fell to a 40-year-low, a latest study shows.
The rate dipped to 16.9 abortions per 1,000 women between the ages of 15 and 44 in 2011. This is much lower than the abortion rates during 1981 that witnessed 29.3 per 1,000. It is the lowest since 1973 when the rate was 16.3 per 1,000, a study from the Guttmacher Institute showed, reported Reuters.
In the years between 2008 and 2011, the abortion rate declined by 13 percent. "With abortion rates falling in almost all states, our study did not find evidence that the national decline in abortions during this period was the result of new state abortion restrictions," said Rachel Jones, lead author of the study in the press release.
"We also found no evidence that the decline was linked to a drop in the number of abortion providers during this period."
Furthermore, the researchers also found a decline in overall pregnancy and birth rates. The recession also has led many people to put off having children.
"Contraceptive use improved during this period, as more women and couples were using highly effective long-acting reversible contraceptive methods," Jones said.
Anti-abortions activists expressed happiness over the decline in abortion rates. "That abortion rates and numbers continue to decline is heartening because it shows that women are rejecting the idea of abortion as the answer to an unexpected pregnancy," said Carol Tobias, president of the National Right to Life group, according to Agence France-Presse.
"Overall, this latest report from Guttmacher shows the long-term efforts of the right-to-life movement to educate the country about the humanity of the unborn child and to enact laws that help mothers and their children are having a tremendous impact."
