NP Rank:
Abortions in US at 30-year Low
The rate of abortions in the US is considerably lower than it was 30 years ago, having fallen 33% between 1974 and 2004. The Guttmacher Institute report also found significant trends throughout the course of their study regarding who is getting abortions, and when:
"There's been a shift in the population of women obtaining abortions relative to 30 years ago," said Rachel Jones, a senior research associate at the institute. "They are older, they are more likely to be unmarried, more likely to be mothers, and they are more likely to be women of color."One of the largest factors in the decline has been the drop in teenage pregnancies and abortions, Jones said. "We've done a lot of work addressing teen pregnancy, including comprehensive sex education, access to contraceptive services and providing kids with information to help them delay sexual activity," she said.
While the abortion rate has dropped among all racial groups, it remains three times higher among Hispanic women and five times higher among black women, compared to white women, the report found.
If additional access to sex education has been proven to work for teens, perhaps community resources should also be in place for women with low incomes.
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Most RecentMost Recommended Comments (1)
at 15:00 on September 23rd, 2008
Terri Potratz, I like this story. It's good stuff.
Nice to see that sex-ed classes are paying off. However unpopular they may be to certain religious groups, they're surely the 'lesser of two evils.'