The rate of U.S. women becoming pregnant unintentionally has fallen to its lowest level in three decades, a new report finds.
In 2011, there were 45 unintended pregnancies for every 1,000 women compared to 54 per 1,000 women four years earlier, according to a new analysis from the Guttmacher Institute published this week in the New England Journal of Medicine.
The findings are an unusual point of celebration for both abortion opponents and abortion rights supporters, who are otherwise caught up in bitter disputes over abortion regulations and Planned Parenthood funding.
“While this trend is certainly good news, it’s important to note that nearly half of all pregnancies in the United States are still unintended,” said Lawrence Finer, Guttmacher’s director of domestic research. “We have made progress in a short period of time, but we still have a long way to go to ensure that all women — regardless of socioeconomic status — are able to achieve their childbearing goals.”
Women in every economic bracket experienced a lower rate of unintended pregnancies in 2011 compared to 2008, although dramatic disparities remain depending on their income level. Just 20 out of every 1,000 women with household incomes above 200 percent of the federal poverty level have an unintended pregnancy, compared to 112 women living below 100 percent of federal poverty.
Since the late 1980s, the unintended pregnancy rate has slowly declined among middle-class women but gradually risen among women who are poorer. But since 2008, it has fallen relatively quickly for women in virtually every income bracket.
The New York-based Guttmacher Institute supports abortion rights.
