(CNN) In the 46 years since abortion was legalized nationwide, the country has never seen abortion rates this low.

But those decreases might have little to do with anti-abortion laws passed across the country in recent years, researchers say.

"The US abortion rate dropped to 13.5 abortions per 1,000 women aged 15--44 in 2017, the lowest rate recorded since abortion was legalized in 1973," the Guttmacher Institute said.

The research group conducts an abortion provider census every three years and spends about two years analyzing and aggregating the data.

The newly released information found that between 2011 and 2017:

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