The abortion rate around the world has declined steadily, according to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report based on 2012 data. The research also says that the rate is lowest since 1973 Supreme Court ruling legalizing abortion in Roe v. Wade.
According to the report, the number of abortions in America decreased by 17 percent from 848,163 in 2003 to 699,202 in 2012. The number of abortions per 100 live births declined from 24.1 to 21 during the same period. Moreover, the abortion rate fell by more than half since the late 1980s.
Abortion opponents and proponents cite different reasons for the decline. A Planned Parenthood affiliated research group Guttmacher Institute, for example, ascribed the fall in abortion rates to sex education and contraception.
"When we look at where contraceptives became more available, it matches where the abortion rate falls," Guttmacher senior research associate Gilda Sedgh told LifeSiteNews.
Guttmacher's 2014 research, based on its 2011 data, said that the fall in abortion numbers was due to decline in teenage sexual activity along with use of contraceptives.
But pro-life organizations attribute the trend to restrictions on abortions, such as prenatal counseling.
Dr. Priscilla Coleman of Bowling Green State University said in her published comments countering the arguments of Guttmacher report, that the states recording highest level of decline in abortions were South Dakota (30 percent) and Kansas (35 percent), which have most notable abortion restrictions.
"It is quite likely that the increased efforts made by the majority of US states to effectively regulate and protect women from poor medical decisions, is a reflection of a culture that has grown to understand the complexities of abortion and the numerous adverse consequences it often brings to women, families, and society," Coleman wrote.
