Good News On Abortions

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

Pro-life or pro-choice, I don't know anyone who is pro-abortion. As I've pointed out to numerous people, no matter how you feel about a woman's right to choose, I think we can all get behind changing conditions so less women will be in a position to even think about an abortion (IOW- reduce unwanted pregnancies). There was some great news on this front recently as the number of abortions performed in America continues to drop. There were actually less abortions in the last year reported (2004) was actually less than in any year since 1974, the year after Roe V. Wade was decided. The rate of abortions also continues to fall (as it would have to since the population is increasing).

I saw a quick blurb about this on the news the other night and Googled it this morning. I was shocked at the lack of coverage of this statistic though. With abortion being such a hot debate in this country, I would expect everyone on both sides to be jumping all over this number when it's reported every year.

Whether you're pro-life or pro-choice, this is indeed good news. Education, better birth control and improving the adoption system are things we can all work on to continue this trend, even if women are still given the right to choose. The Washington Times article cites some suspected reasons for the downward trend. Better use of contraception and a decrease in the number of unwanted pregnancies are suspect to be two of the reasons.

For details, see these articles: U.S. Abortion Total Hits Lowest Mark Since... and Washington Times Article