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US Abortions Down 25% Since 1990 High

More women using the Pill; both sides of debate claim victory

By Kevin Spak,  Newser Staff

Posted Jan 17, 2008 11:56 AM CST
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(Newser) – About 1.2 million abortions were performed in the US in 2005, a 25% drop from the practice’s 1990 heyday, new data show. About 1 in 5 pregnancies ended in abortion in '05—the most recent year with data available—compared to 1 in 3 in the 1980s, the Los Angeles Times reports. “That’s a significant drop, and it’s encouraging,” one antiabortion activist said.

The study was conducted by a nonprofit abortion-rights group, but its figures are trusted—and used—by both sides of the debate. The pro-life crowd saw the findings as proof that new laws and discouragement tactics were working, while pro-choicers credited the morning-after pill, and noted that Oregon, recently rated the “least pro-life state,” saw the second-biggest drop.

An anti-abortion activist wearing a skull masks holds a baby fetus doll in his mouth during a protest near the City Legislature in Mexico City Tuesday April 24, 2007. (AP Photo/Dario Lopez-Mills)
An anti-abortion activist wearing a skull masks holds a baby fetus doll in his mouth during a protest near the City Legislature in Mexico City Tuesday April 24, 2007. (AP Photo/Dario Lopez-Mills)   (Associated Press)
Abortion-rights advocates attend the open house for the new Planned Parenthood location in Aurora, Ill., Tuesday, Sept. 18, 2007. Officials of the new medical facility declined media access to the event which drew the attention of anti-abortion activists. (AP Photo/Stacie Freudenberg)
Abortion-rights advocates attend the open house for the new Planned Parenthood location in Aurora, Ill., Tuesday, Sept. 18, 2007. Officials of the new medical facility declined media access to the event...   (Associated Press)
Protester Leon Clark holds an anti-abortion sign as traffic passes by along a street in Aurora, Ill., near the new Planned Parenthood location Tuesday, Sept. 18, 2007. (AP Photo/Stacie Freudenberg)
Protester Leon Clark holds an anti-abortion sign as traffic passes by along a street in Aurora, Ill., near the new Planned Parenthood location Tuesday, Sept. 18, 2007. (AP Photo/Stacie Freudenberg)   (Associated Press)
Plastic fetuses are tagged and piled in front of the Supreme Court during the March for Life to mark the 33rd anniversary of the landmark Supreme Court case Roe v. Wade January 23, 2006. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
Plastic fetuses are tagged and piled in front of the Supreme Court during the March for Life to mark the 33rd anniversary of the landmark Supreme Court case Roe v. Wade January 23, 2006. (Photo by Chip...   (Getty Images)
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