Saturday, October 30, 2010

Abortion Rates & Teen Pregnancy Drop in Washington

The Washington state health department issued a report . . . saying the abortion rates in the state have dropped to a historic low. At the same time, teen pregnancy rates have dropped.

-- From "Abortion rate continues to drop in Washington" by The Associated Press 10/28/10

The department reported Thursday that the rate of reported abortions for women of childbearing age (15 to 44) was about 17 for every 1,000 women last year, compared with 18 in 2008. The pregnancy rate for the group dropped to 83, from 85 in 2008.

The department says the abortion rate for teens (15-19) hit a new low of about 17 for every 1,000, compared with 19 in 2008. Pregnancy rates for teens are their lowest since 1980 at about 47 per 1,000. The rate peaked in 1989 at 96 pregnancies per 1,000.

The department attributes the declines to abstinence and contraceptives.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "Washington State Abortion Figures Drop to Historic Low, Teen Rates Down" by Steven Ertelt, LifeNews.com 10/28/10

Looking at the overall number of abortions, there were 22,642 abortions in Washington state last year, a decline of 6.7 percent over the previous year. That means there are fewer annual abortions now than at any point since 1985.

The overall abortion ratio, the number of induced abortions per 1,000 live births, dropped 5.7 from 2008-2009 to 254 abortions for every live birth — meaning just over 25 percent of all pregnancies end in abortion. . . . The highest was 41.3 percent of pregnancies ending in abortion in 1987.

[Dan Kennedy of Human Life of Washington said,] “The drop in abortions gives further empirical evidence that the culture is shifting to a pro-life position, even in Washington State. As LifeNews.com has reported in the past, national polling indicates a slight majority now consider themselves pro-life. It is the new “normal“.”

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.