A new study from the Guttmacher Institute found that abortion rates have hit a 40-year low, with 1.1 million procedures conducted in 2011. But the paper declines to connect the decrease in abortions with pro-life legislation passed state legislatures, prompting outrage from pro-life organizations.
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The Guttmacher Institute, a reproductive and sexual health think tank, examined abortion rates across all 50 states in 2011, as well as state abortion regulations implemented between 2008 and 2011. The organization found that 1.1 million abortions were performed in the United States in 2011, representing the lowest rate of abortions since the United States Supreme Court’s 1973 Roe v. Wade decision.
According to the study, titled “Abortion Incidence and Service Availability in the United States,” there were fewer than 16.9 abortions per 1,000 women between the ages of 15 and 44. That represents a 13 percent decline since 2008 and the lowest since 1973, when the abortion rate was 16.3. The number of abortions per 1,000 women reached a high in 1980 at 29.3.
Researchers at the pro-abortion rights think tank said the decrease in abortion procedures could not be attributed to more stringent regulations. Instead, they wrote, such a decline is likely the result of new methods of birth control, such as Mirena, and a stagnant economy, as couples often forego or postpone having children during times of economic uncertainty.
The report, however, did suggest that a decline in abortion providers, a 24-hour waiting period that requires two in-person visits and the elimination of abortion services under Medicaid could have played a role. Little effort was made to tie the decrease in abortion rates to legislation, though.
States with the highest abortion rates were New York, Delaware, Maryland, the District of Columbia and New Jersey. However, Delaware also experienced the most notable decline, having held the highest abortion rate in the country in 2008.
Between 2008 and 2010, 18 states implemented 44 laws pertaining to abortion procedures. The following year, in 2011, 21 states implemented 62 laws. But, according to the Guttmacher Institute, “many of these laws would not be expected to have a measurable impact on abortion incidence.”
“Regardless of any measurable impact on incidence or services, increase regulation of abortion contributes to the stigmatization of abortion and of the women who obtain one, and can create a climate of fear and hostility even in states where such regulations are not imposed,” the study states.
Rachel K. Jones, lead researcher for the Guttmacher Institute’s study, told The Washington Post anti-abortion laws passed in almost half of the 50 states were “onerous.”
Many pro-life organizations, however, are speaking out against the study, saying the low-point in abortion rates relative to anti-abortion legislation is hardly a coincidence.
Charmaine Yoest, president and chief executive officer of Americans United for Life, called the study an “an abortion industry propaganda piece.”
“The truth is that these common-sense limits on abortion protect women and their unborn children from abortion industry abuses,” she said in a statement. “And no matter how many abortions there are, abortion carries serious risks for both mother and unborn child, which should be of great concern to us all. Abortion should come with a warning label and be regulated like the medical procedure that abortionists claim it to be because of the health risks of abortion for women.”
In a statement, National Right to Life said the report “attempts to downplay the impact of pro-life legislation.”
“The legislative efforts of the right-to-life movement, and significantly, the resulting national debate and educational campaigns surrounding pro-life legislation should not be minimized when discussing the decline in abortion numbers,” Carol Tobias, president of National Right to Life, said. “The more Americans learn about the development of the unborn child and the tragedy of abortion, the more they reject abortion as a legitimate answer to an unexpected pregnancy.”
The Supreme Court’s decision in Roe v. Wade legalized abortion in all 50 states. However, many states have passed anti-abortion laws in response to the high court’s ruling. The Texas state legislature passed a 20-week abortion ban last year, which prompted an 11-hour filibuster from state Sen.-turned-gubernatorial candidate Wendy Davis. The House of Representatives is expected to take up anti-abortion legislation in the coming weeks, with the lower chamber planning to vote on two bills: one that prohibits taxpayer funded abortions and another that restricts abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy.
