Yahoo! News - Abortion Rate Drops Significantly
Tue Oct 8, 3:28 PM ET
By SARA KUGLER, Associated Press Writer
NEW YORK (AP) - The U.S. abortion rate dropped significantly during the second half of the 1990s, particularly among teen-agers, and experts attribute the decline to AIDS (news - web sites) fears and better awareness of contraception.
The rate fell 11 percent between 1994 and 2000, from about 24 abortions for every 1,000 women of childbearing age to 21, the nonprofit Alan Guttmacher Institute reported Tuesday. The rate among girls ages 15 to 18 declined a dramatic 39 percent, from 24 abortions per 1,000 girls to 15. ...
Sarah Brown, director of the National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy, noted that the drop in abortions was accompanied by a decline in teen sex, teen pregnancies and teen births during the late 1990s.