Abortion has been a fairly controversial issue in the world, but since its legalization in the United States in 1973 with the Roe v. Wade ruling, the numbers and rate have dropped to their lowest level.
A Guttmacher Institute report revealed that in 2017, 862,000 abortions were performed throughout the country, a figure that represents a decrease from the 926,000 counted in 2014 in its last research and just over one million recorded in 2011.
It should be noted that Guttmacher is the only entity that keeps track of all the pregnancy interruptions practiced in the United States. Federal data excludes California, Maryland and New Hampshire.
The new report highlights that the number of abortions is decreasing across the country, both in Republican-controlled states that seeks to restrict abortion and in Democratic-run states that protect abortion rights. Between 2011 and 2017, abortion rates increased in only five states and the District of Columbia.
In recent months, the right to abortion established in the United States by the Roe v. Wade ruling, has been severely constrained by the obstacles many states impose on abortion clinics, and by legislation at the municipal level that has limited access to abortion.
Despite these restrictions, the drop in abortion numbers could include fewer women becoming pregnant. The Guttmacher Institute notes that the birth rate declined during the years covered by the report, when the Affordable Health Care Act required most private health insurance plan to cover contraceptives at no additional expense.
The report also specifies that between 2011 and 2017, the number of cynics providing abortion services in the United States declined from 839 to 808, with significant regional disparities.
It states that the South had a decline of 50 clinics, including 25 in Texas, while in the Midwest region there was a decline of 33 clinics. In contrast, the Northeast added 59 clinics, mostly in New York and New Jersey.
The report indicates that over that period, the abortion rate dropped 27% in Ohio and 30% in Texas, but it dropped fell by similar amounts in states that protect abortion access, such as California, Hawaii and New Hampshire.
Translated by: José Espinoza
Noticias Newswire
