NPR, with some good news on a trend that has in fact been continuing for years:
The abortion rate in the United States fell to its lowest level since the historic Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision legalized abortion nationwide, a new report finds.
The report by the Guttmacher Institute, a research group that supports legalized abortion, puts the rate at 14.6 abortions per 1,000 women of childbearing age (ages 15-44) in 2014. That’s the lowest recorded rate since the Roe decision in 1973. The abortion rate has been declining for decades — down from a peak of 29.3 in 1980 and 1981.
As the NPR piece notes, everyone wants to jump up and attribute this to their own favorite policy: new state regulations on abortion on the one hand, more access to contraception on the other. Probably both play some role. I think the cultural attitude toward abortion has fortunately changed to make it a less attractive option as well, and that crisis pregnancy centers are providing financial support and medical treatment for a lot of women who might have otherwise chosen abortion.
Another piece of the puzzle, unquestionably: Teenagers are just more responsible today than they were in the early 1990s. Yeah, I know, right? But it’s true. Fewer of them are sexually active than when Gen-Xers were growing up, according to the CDC (down 22 percent among boys and 14 percent among girls since 1988), and teen pregnancy rates are well below half what they were in 1990, with black and Hispanic teenagers seeing the sharpest declines. The idea that sex has serious consequences, especially at that age, seems to be sinking in somehow.
