Watchdog
Vigilance Home PageSafe Family Planning Public Policies
The content of this web page is arranged under the following
headings:
1. U.S. Abortion Rate
2. Planned Parenthood Medicaid Funding
1. U.S. Abortion Rate
(Source: Guttmacher Institute January 17, 2017, news releases at https://www.guttmacher.org/news-release/2017/us-abortion-rate-continues-decline-hits-historic-low.)
For the first time since 1975, the number of abortions in the United States dropped under one million (958,700 in 2013 and 926,200 in 2014), according to “Abortion Incidence and Service Availability in the United States, 2014.” The abortion rate also continued to decline, falling to 14.6 abortions per 1,000 women aged 15–44, the lowest rate ever recorded, and a 14% decline from 2011.
While the study did not directly investigate reasons behind the declining abortion rate, the authors suggest potential factors, both positive and negative, that are likely contributing to this trend. Improved contraceptive use in recent years has led to a decline in the U.S. unintended pregnancy rate, suggesting that women are increasingly able to plan their pregnancies and therefore have a decreased need for abortions. However, the wave of abortion restrictions passed at the state level over the last five years could also have contributed to the decline by making it more difficult for women to access needed services in highly restrictive states.
Between 2011 and 2014, abortion rates declined in all regions of the United States and in all but six states (and the District of Columbia). The sharpest declines occurred in the West and the South (16% in each region), while smaller declines were seen in the Northeast (11%) and the Midwest (9%). The study did not find a clear and consistent relationship between state restrictions and changes in state abortion rates.
The overwhelming majority of abortions—95%—were performed in clinics, and there were 6% fewer clinics providing abortions in 2014 than in 2011. However, there was no clear correlation between the number of clinics and abortion rates.
“Restricting access to abortion may force women to delay the procedure or carry unwanted pregnancies to term,” says Megan Donovan, Guttmacher senior policy manager. “Instead, we should focus on increasing access to the full range of contraceptive methods, as well as to abortion services. Empowering women to prevent unintended pregnancies and plan their families is both a human rights priority and smart public health policy.”
2. Planned Parenthood Medicaid Funding
Planned Parenthood chapters nationwide are fighting efforts in at least 15 states to end tens of millions of dollars in funding they receive under the federal Medicaid program for reproductive health care. That federal money doesn't cover abortions, but the high-stakes fights being waged in statehouses and courthouses are meant to stop the flow of taxpayers' dollars to the country's largest abortion provider. Most of the Medicaid money comes from Washington, but it's up to states to pay clinics and physicians for providing care to patients who are poor. In Texas, both sides of the debate over reproductive rights anxiously await a federal judge's decision - Planned Parenthood sue the state in 2016 when it made plans to cut $3 million a year in Medicaid money for the organization. "Medicaid reimburses Planned Parenthood for services like cervical cancer screening, birth control and testing for sexually transmitted diseases," said Sarah Wheat, spokeswoman for the Texas chapter of the national organization. "Medicaid does not pay for abortion. It's against the law." The action that prompted the lawsuit in Texas, just like legislative initiatives and litigation pending in numerous states across the nation and in Congress, is part of a far-reaching effort led by Republicans to deny public money to any organization that provides abortion services. (Source: Article in the USA Today section of The Indianapolis Star on February 16, 2017.)
This page was last updated on 02/16/17.