Abortion Rate at Lowest Since Roe vs. Wade

The abortion rate has continued to dip steadily, according to 2012 data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The report says that the number of abortions and the ratio of abortions to live births have fallen steadily. The rate is at its lowest since abortion was legalized in 1973, the report says.

"We should take a measured amount of encouragement that we are on the right track," commented Eric Scheidler, the head of the Chicago-based Pro-Life Action League. "But there is still a massive, massive amount of injustice against the unborn, so we must stay on the track."

Pro-life and pro-choice advocates have differing opinions on why the rates have declined. The Guttmacher Institute, a research organization associated with Planned Parenthood, has said the decline has been because of sex education and promotion of contraception.

"When we look at where contraceptives became more available, it matches where the abortion rate falls," Gilda Sedgh, senior research associate at Guttmacher, told LifeSiteNews.

But conservative commentator Michael New attributes the decline to more restrictions on abortion, including parental consent requirements.

The CDC’s report found in 2012 that 699,202 unborn Americans were killed. In 2003, that number was 848,163.

"But the numbers are certainly down, and we also have to credit the increase in pro-life activities around abortion clinics from groups such as 40 Days for Life, and the increased visibility of abortion victim photography," Scheidler said.

Photo courtesy: Wikimedia Commons

Publication date: December 3, 2015