The latest stats show that the abortion rate in the U.S. has dropped as just 20 percent of pregnant women have chosen to end it through abortion. This is the lowest abortion rate since 1976, said the nonprofit Alan Guttmacher Institute on Thursday.
The survey, which takes in consideration all known abortions, also shows that the abortion rate dropped 8 percent between 2000 and 2005. The key elements that led to the lower abortion rate may have been the better access to contraception corroborated with less access to abortion providers.
"Slightly more than one in five pregnancies end in abortion, indicating that unwanted pregnancy is still too common in the United States," the report said.
Alan Guttmacher Institute’s report is the first since 2000 and shows the state of what is still one of the most controversial political and ethical issues in the United States – should abortion be banned?
Although it is still legal for a woman to end her pregnancy through abortion, many states have passed laws that make it more difficult to get an abortion. The report also suggested some solutions to the problem and it wrote that, in order to lower the abortion rate, the procedure should not be banned. A simpler solution would be to help women and their partners prevent unintended pregnancy.
"More women and couples need access to resources and services that will help them to better plan when they want to have children and how to use contraceptive methods effectively until that time," the report said.
However, the institute’s president Sharon Camp said that, although the abortion rate has decreased, more than one in five pregnancies ended in abortion in 2005.
The Guttmacher survey wrote that the number of abortions declined by 8 percent between 2000 and 2005, from 1.31 million to 1.21 million. Similarly, the 2005 abortion rate of 19.4 per 1,000 women aged 15 to 44 was down 9 percent from 2000.
Also, the highest abortion rates were reported in Washington, D.C., New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Florida, Maryland and California, while the lowest were in largely rural states such as Wyoming, Kentucky, Mississippi, South Dakota, Idaho and Utah.
