Legal Abortions Fell Around 6 Percent in Two Months After End of Roe v. Wade
While legal abortion advocates in the United States have not changed their opinion on the subject since the 1973 Supreme Court decision ending state bans on abortion, the numbers of abortion clinics has dropped sharply in recent years and abortions fell roughly 6 percent overall last month before the abortion procedure began to fall, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The abortion rate among women of reproductive age fell from more than one abortion a day per woman to 1.5 abortions per woman from 2010 to 2013, according to the Department of Health and Human Services’ annual report, “Abortion Surveillance Report — March 2014.”
The abortion rate was 9.8 abortions per 1,000 women of reproductive age in April 2013, when the state of Texas first instituted state-wide restrictions on abortion. This number fell to 9.3 abortions per 1,000 women in April 2014 before the restrictive abortion laws were ruled unconstitutional by the 5-4 Supreme Court decision in Whole Woman’s Health v. Hellerstedt.
Abortions fell nearly 6 percent in the last month. However, the CDC’s report shows that there was a spike of 6 to 7 percent in the month of March 2015. This month fell in between two month (April) of sharp increases.
The abortion rate fell 5.8 percent in January, down from a 2 to 3 percent rate in January and February. This month’s rate was an increase of over 1 percent and also had the highest increase of any month since the start of the Obama administration.
When abortion was legalized in the first year of the women’s right to choose in 1973, abortion rates fell by 2 percent each year. The abortion rate has fallen by more than 6 percent since the Supreme Court’s decision that legalized abortion nationwide.
The abortion rate fell 5.4 percent in February, and has fallen 11.1 percent since January. The rate was 5.6 percent at the start of 2014. This month’s rate was the highest since the start of 2013.
