Number of Abortions in United States Falls: Pro-Abortion Group

The number of abortions dropped to 862,320 in 2017, a pro-abortion group said.

The Guttmacher Institute said that the number is an estimate.

The estimated number would be a 7 percent decline since 2014 and a 19 percent decline from 2011, when 1.05 million abortions were performed. If confirmed, the 13.5 abortions per 1,000 women between the ages of 15 and 44 would be the lowest rate on record since abortion was legalized in 1973.

According to the institute, the primary driver was likely the decline in births and pregnancies overall.

The institute noted that along with a drop in pregnancies, there has been a decline in sexual activity. Another possible factor is an increase in infertility.

There could have also been an increase in so-called self-managed abortions, or those happening outside medical centers, the institute alleged.

Official data on abortions was last released in November 2018 for the year of 2015.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said there were 638,169 legal induced abortions reported to the federal agency.

The abortion rate was 11.8 abortions per 1,000 women in the stated age range. The number and rate decreased from 2014.

Women in their 20s accounted for the majority of abortions in 2015 and throughout the period of analysis.

A legal induced abortion is “defined as an intervention performed within the limits of state law by a licensed clinician (e.g. a physician, nurse-midwife, nurse practitioner, or physician assistant) that is intended to terminate a suspected or known intrauterine pregnancy,” according to the CDC.