{"id":185279,"date":"2018-07-12T13:30:41","date_gmt":"2018-07-12T18:30:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.liveaction.org\/news\/?p=185279"},"modified":"2018-07-12T14:03:56","modified_gmt":"2018-07-12T19:03:56","slug":"abortion-decline-dont-need-abortion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/abortion-decline-dont-need-abortion\/","title":{"rendered":"‘1 in 3’ is now ‘1 in 4’: Abortion decline shows women don’t need abortion"},"content":{"rendered":"
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In 1992, the Guttmacher Institute estimated that 43 percent of women of child-bearing age would undergo an abortion during their lifetimes based on the abortion rate (the number of abortions per 1,000 women) and survey information. This would mean close to 1 in 2 women would have abortions at some point in their lifetimes.<\/p>\n

That estimate never materialized.<\/p>\n

Pro-abortion groups frequently try to use statistics like these to normalize abortions<\/a>. But even those statistics are telling a different story. Before the latest revision, the estimated lifetime incidence of abortion was updated in 2008 to 30 percent of women, or 3 in 10, which was rounded up to 1 in 3 for national pro-abortion campaigns — a claim that has been debunked<\/a>. Yet abortion advocates continued to run with the numbers, until last fall, when they had to revise them again… this time, to 1 in 4. <\/em><\/p>\n

\u201c1 in 4\u201d is an estimate of the lifetime incidence of abortions for women between the ages of 15 and 45. However, the estimate is not static. It comes from a 2017 revision of the Guttmacher Institute\u2019s numbers.\u00a0A closer look highlights the declining abortion rate, and the fact that women do not need to undergo abortions to succeed, contrary to what abortion advocates claim.<\/p>\n

READ: Washington Post: Two Pinocchios for ’99 percent of women have used birth control’ claim<\/em><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

What is behind this change? According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the number of abortions in 1992<\/a> was 1,359,145, while in 2008<\/a>, 825,564 abortions were reported — a significant decline. From 2008 to 2014, there was a continued decline, with the CDC reporting 652,639 abortions for 2014<\/a>. The difference between 2008 and 2014 represents a 25 percent decrease. The 2014 numbers are a historic low<\/a>. The steady decline in the overall number of abortions, and consequently, the abortion rate, has led to the revision of the lifetime incidence statistic to 1 in 4.<\/p>\n

The Guttmacher Institute, the former\u00a0<\/em>research arm of Planned Parenthood<\/a>, predictably points to increased use of more effective birth control as the reason for the decline in abortions. The implication is that Planned Parenthood supplies birth control, which then decreases the number of abortions women receive. But complete information on unintended pregnancies is difficult to assess, and Planned Parenthood itself has actually reported a decrease<\/em> in its contraceptive services<\/a>. And, of course, a decrease in other health services, as well:<\/p>\n