U.S. Abortion Rate Ticks Up After Three-Decade Decline

According to the Guttmacher Institute, the U.S. abortion rate ticked upwards in 2019 and 2020 after having decreased for nearly three decades. The data is based on a survey of abortion providers. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had still posted a decline for 2019. Both abortion proponents and opponents have previously cited restrictions to abortion access as the reason for the years-long decline.

Immediately following the landmark Supreme Court decision Roe v. Wade which legalized abortions in the U.S. in 1973, the abortion rate rose. The Guttmacher Institute said that improved methods of contraception, push-back on abortion rights and individuals turning to self-managed abortions when none were available in their area were factors contributing to the decline that followed.

The research suggests that the abortion rate first fell below 1973 levels in 2012 and reached its lowest point at 13.5 abortions per 1,000 women aged 14 to 55 in 2017. The institute also found that the number of abortions rose in all four regions of the U.S. that were analyzed. Potential reasons could include Medicaid expansions for abortions in some states, cuts to Title X family planning under the Trump administration as well as in 2020, pandemic disruptions. Counter to these developments ran a renewed push by states to enact abortion restrictions but many of them were held up in legal limbo or affected states where conditions for abortions were already poor, according to Guttmacher.