Abortion rates have dropped steadily since the 1980s, from a peak of 29.3 abortions per 1,000 women in 1981 to 19.4 in 2005. But behind this general decrease are striking changes in the demographics of abortion. Compared to 30 years ago, women having abortions today are older and more likely to be mothers and minorities, according to a study released Tuesday by the nonprofit, nonpartisan Guttmacher Institute.

In fact, teens saw a bigger drop in abortion rate than any other demographic over the past 30 years. From 1974 to 1989, women aged 18-19 had the highest

abortion rate among all age groups, varying from 32 to 62 per 1,000 women. In 2004, the latest year for which data is available, the abortion rate was 20.5.

"We've done a great job educating kids about the risks of sexual behavior and proper contraceptive use," says Jones. So it's not the kids that researchers are most worried about--it's the age groups above them.

It's hard to figure out why older women and moms are having most of the abortions. There could be physical problems with the older women and maybe the moms just wouldn't be able to handle or afford more children.

I'm sure these women know about birth control abut there has to be a reason why it isn't being used. Maybe husbands don't want their wives to use birth control and maybe the older women wanted to have a child but had complications once they became pregnant.

With regards to th statistics on teen abortions, I would like to know if thte rate of teen pregnancies has dropped. From what you see and hear in the news and out in the general world, it would not seem so.

I conclude that more and more teens are not opting to have their pregnancies aborted.

That's the problem with statistics quoted out of context. "Rates" is the key word.

Is this article referring to the overall number, or the number per 100,000 females of reproductive age?

Or is it that improved birth control usage and declining fertiity rates are resulting in fewer pregnancies, and a proportionate decrease in the number of associated abortions?

Does not mean that "more teens are choosing not to abort"...far from it. This is another example of the media using facts to distort the truth to further an agenda. But in this case we have no idea what the truth really is, since we don't know the facts.

All that can be fairly said about this "news", is that no conclusion can be drawn.

If it is true, that is very good news.
In fact, I read that Europe has a far greater percentage of abortion per citizen, far great than the U.S.
I am not trying to diminish the problem. I am simply saying that other countries have more problems in this department than we do.

That is good for a change.

If this statistics is true it will be really good. Abortion is just like killing a new life from being born. But there must be a considerable drop in teen abortions.