What Do The Numbers Say?
The US abortion rate is at its lowest level since the Supreme Court's Roe v. Wade decision in 1973 that legalized abortion.
In 1973, the abortion rate was 16.3 per 1000 women ages 15 to 44. In 2014, it was down over 10% to 14.6.
Does this indicate people in the US are less supportive of abortions?
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1 solution
The most significant other factors are access to contraceptives and sex education. Some conservatives point to a supposed correlation between the closing of abortion clinics and drops in abortion rates, but this measure simply forces women to travel farther for access, thereby artificially reducing the rates in counties where clinics have been forced to close, but not the rates over a wider region.
The public polling on the issue has been been relatively steady for decades: about 1/3 support full access, 1/2 access with some restrictions and 1/6 are vehemently opposed to any access. Before Roe v. Wade, women were forced to seek out either unsafe, back-alley clinics, risking their lives in the process, or if fortunate find a reputable doctor willing to break the law of the land in order to end a pregnancy.