The number of abortions continues to decline in the United States

The number of abortions performed in the United States has dropped again between 2014 and 2017 to reach a historically low level, according to a study published Wednesday that advances as a main assumption to this decline an improvement in contraception.

A little over 862,000 abortions were performed in 2017, down 7% from 2014, according to data collected by the Guttmacher Institute, which is referring to the issue.

This decrease is part of a long trend, recalls the institute. In 2000, there were 1.3 million abortions in the United States and 1.1 million in 2010, according to his data.

With 13.5 induced abortions (abortions) per 1,000 women of childbearing age, the abortion rate in 2017 reached its lowest level since the US Supreme Court in 1973 legalized the right of women to abort in any form of abortion. the country, emphasize the authors of the study.

They wondered whether the restrictive measures adopted by some conservative states in the south and center of the country, which led to the closure of many clinics in the area, were responsible for the decline.

But "our analysis did not find a clear link between the variation in the number of clinics and the number of abortions," they write.

On the other hand, they note, the number of births has also decreased over this period.

"Better use of contraception could be the factor" for these changes, they argue, noting an increase in the use of highly effective contraceptives, such as the IUD or implants, as well as sterilization.

Abortion is a very divisive subject in the United States. According to a 2018 Pew Research Center survey, 58% of Americans believe abortion should be legal, and 37% want it banned.

Differences of opinion largely follow the partisan lines with democrats largely in favor of the right of women to choose whether they want to interrupt their pregnancy, and of Republicans, especially in evangelical circles, most of them opposed to abortions.