The new survey shows that U.S. abortions plunged from a high of 1,608,600 in 1990 to 1,529,000 in 1992. According to study authors Stanley Henshaw and Jennifer Van Vort of the Alan Guttmacher Institute, a small part of the decline can be attributed to reduced access to the procedure, especially in rural areas. Currently 84 percent of U.S. counties have no doctor or facility providing abortions. Other possible contributions to the lower rate:
Baby boomers getting older.
Greater use of condoms because of AIDS fears.
More single women keeping their babies.
The influence of anti-abortion activists, along with pressure on small hospitals performing few abortions to stop doing them altogether.
Abortions have apparently declined further in 1993 and 1994. ““I’m optimistic that we will continue to see fewer abortions in the future,’’ Henshaw says. There should also be fewer unwanted pregnancies, he believes, thanks to new contraceptives like the implantable Norplant and the injectable Depo-Provera – as well as making ““morning-after’’ methods better known by physicians and family-planning clinics. While some Americans may oppose both abortion and contraception, everyone is in favor of fewer unwanted babies.
