Women ages 15 to 44 years old received abortions at a lower rate from 2015 to 2016, data released Wednesday from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows.
The big picture: Many red state lawmakers have been challenging abortion rights by passing six-week "heartbeat" bans with no exceptions for rape or incest. Meanwhile, many progressive states are loosening restrictions on abortions for later-term pregnancies.
By the numbers: Abortions reported to the CDC have been trending downward since the mid-2000s, a 45% drop between 2007 and 2016. 623,471 abortions were reported in 2016.
- Analyses from 48 reporting areas shows both the total number of abortions and the rate dropped 2%, respectively from 2015 to 2016.
- There's been an increase in contraceptives among all women and specifically adolescents, particularly intrauterine devices and hormonal implants. Researchers cannot conclude if this timing coincides with the decrease in abortions, however.
- Most women who received abortions were in their 20s, with 30% of all abortions performed on women ages 20 to 24. Teenagers were the smallest pool.
Of note: Reporting was voluntary and therefore the CDC was unable to obtain the total number of abortions in the U.S.
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