US:The number of abortions performed in the US dropped to 1.2 million in 2005, the lowest level since 1976, according to a new report.
The proportion of women ending their pregnancies with an abortion dropped 9 per cent between 2000 and 2005, hitting the lowest level since 1975, according to a nationwide survey.
At the same time, the long decline in the number of abortion providers appears to be stabilising, at least in part because of the availability of the controversial French abortion pill RU-486, the report found, because some doctors who do not perform surgical abortions provide it to their patients.
The report did not identify reasons for the drop in abortions, but the researchers said it could be due to a combination of several factors.
"It could be more women using contraception and not having as many unintended pregnancies. It could be more restrictions on abortions, making it more difficult for women to obtain abortion services. It could be a combination of these and other dynamics," said Rachel Jones of the Guttmacher Institute, a reproductive-health research organisation.