The number and rate of abortions fell to their lowest levels since abortion became legal nationwide with 1973's Roe v. Wade ruling, the Guttmacher Institute reported Wednesday. The research group, which supports abortion rights, said it counted 863,000 abortions carried out in the U.S. in 2017, down from 926,000 in 2014 and just over 1 million in 2011. The Guttmacher Institute is the most reliable count of U.S. abortions, because unlike the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, it aims to tally all pregnancies terminated in the country.
Abortions fell in all areas of the country, with 57 percent of the drop in the 18 states, plus the District of Columbia, that did not enact any abortion restrictions, the Guttmacher Institute found. The 400 state laws restricting abortion were not a big factor in the decline, but the drop in pregnancies appeared to be significant. The birth rate also declined during the period studied, and a likely factor in both drops, the report said, is the increased accessibility of contraception since the Affordable Care Act required most private health insurance plans to offer no-cost birth control in 2011.
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