Abortion rates have hit a 34-year low, but experts disagree on the reasons why. The Guttmacher Institute, a reproductive-health research organization, reported that in 2005 the abortion rate dipped to 19.4 per 1,000 women, its lowest level since 1974. And the rate of U.S. abortions has been dropping steadily since 1981. But is it because of increased access to birth control? Decreased access to abortion clinics? Increased availability of new medications that end pregnancy? Or are more women simply choosing to continue their pregnancies? Experts are divided, as are those representing different sides of the pro-life/pro-choice debate.
•    The “morning-after pills,” such as Plan B, have grown in popularity; Plan B sold about $40 million in 2006 and is expected to double sales in 2007;
•    From 2005 to 2006 the teen birth rate went up for the first time in 14 years, from 4.05 to 4.19 percent.
The director of education and research for National Right to Life says more women are choosing to go forward with their pregnancies because they’re “better informed” about abortion and more familiar with fetal biology, thanks to technologies such as 4-D ultrasound: “There’s been a lot of pro-life education and outreach, and a lot of people out there providing women with positive alternatives to abortion. This data tells you that attitudes have changed.”
Not so fast, says Jones, the Guttmacher researcher. Yes, more women are carrying to term, she says, but if that’s because they’ve changed their political views she doesn’t know. “We don’t have any recent data on that, either,” she says. Perhaps that’s one thing both sides can agree on: The need for more statistics on pregnancies and abortion.