U.S. Abortion Rates Declining Due to Contraception, Research Finds

Abortion rates in the United States are declining in part because more Americans are using contraceptives, according to a report released Wednesday by the Alan Guttmacher Institute.

The research, compiled from nearly 10,000 women in the United States who had abortions in 1994 and 1995, shows 58% were using contraceptives, albeit ineffectively, when they became pregnant, compared to 51% in the the last AGI survey in 1987. The survey was published in the AGI journal, Family Planning Perspectives.

The increase in the use of birth control, an indication of increasing motivation to avoid pregnancy, bodes well for lowering the number of abortions, researchers said.

“More and more men and women are using contraceptives,” said Jeannie Rosoff, president of AGI, a nonprofit center for reproductive health research, policy analysis and education based in New York. AGI is a research arm of Planned Parenthood.

“It is good news that women are using contraceptives. But it’s bad news that there is a high rate of contraceptive failure,” added Kathryn Kolbert, vice president of the Center for Reproductive Law and Policy, a nonprofit think tank in New York City. “If we want to reduce the number of unintended pregnancies, which will reduce the need for abortion, we need to have a national effort targeted at those women most likely to get pregnant.”

The AGI report also noted:

* Fewer teens are having abortions.

* Women who have abortions are disproportionately nonwhite, unmarried, poor and aged 18 to 24.

* Women who stated no religious affiliation are almost four times as likely as other women to have an abortion.

* Catholic women have an abortion rate 29% higher than Protestant women, and although women who call themselves “born again” or evangelical Christians are far less likely than other women to have abortions (only 39% as likely), they still account for 18% of all abortions, similar to results of the 1987 AGI study.

Helen Alvare, director of pro-life planning and information for the National Conference of Catholic Bishops in Washington, attributes the decline in part to the effectiveness of the national antiabortion movement.