CDC: U.S. abortion rate declined 24 percent from 2006 to 2015
(HealthDay)—The abortion rate in the United States fell 24 percent between 2006 and 2015, according to research published in the Nov. 23 issue of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.
Tara C. Jatlaoui, M.D., from the CDC in Atlanta, and colleagues found that the number of abortions declined from 842,855 to 638,169. The number of abortions among women ages 15 to 44 years fell 26 percent, from 15.9 to 11.8 abortions per 1,000 women, and abortions per 1,000 live births fell 19 percent, from 233 to 188. Between 2014 and 2015, there was a 2 percent decrease in abortions.
In the study released Wednesday, the CDC noted limitations of its findings due to the fact that abortion reporting is voluntary and requirements for reporting vary nationwide.
For example, the number of abortions reported to the CDC is 68 percent to 71 percent of the number in a census of abortion providers by the Guttmacher Institute, a reproductive health and rights research and policy group.
More information: Abstract/Full Text
Copyright © 2015 HealthDay. All rights reserved.
