A new report reveals how the rate of abortions in the United States has risen significantly in recent years, with as many as 20 percent of all pregnancies being terminated in the year 2020 alone.
As reported by the Associated Press, the figures come from a study by the pro-abortion Guttmacher Institute, which revealed at least 930,000 total abortions in the United States in 2020. In 2017, the total number of nationwide abortions was about 862,000, which was the lowest amount of abortions since the controversial ruling in Roe v. Wade, which legalized abortion in 1973.
Abortions did increase from 2017 to 2019, only to decrease by about six percent in 2020. Guttmacher notes that the coronavirus restrictions during 2020 may have played a role in this slight decline, and perhaps reduced the total number of abortions that were intended to be carried out.
Furthermore, the report claims that 54 percent of recorded abortions in 2020 were carried out by the so-called “abortion pill,” a two-drug combination meant to serve as an alternative to the surgical operation.
The study also revealed that abortions began outnumbering births in 2020, with 3.6 million births across the country, a decrease from 2017. Among the key demographic of women aged 15 to 44, the abortion percentage was 14.4 percent per 1,000 women, slightly larger than the 2017 rate of 13.5 percent per 1,000 women.
In response to the study, liberal academics claim that the rise in abortions is proof that abortion access is necessary. Sara Rosenbaum, a professor at George Washington University, said that the new report “underscores just how devastating a Supreme Court decision is going to be for access to an absolutely vital service.”
Rosenbaum was referencing the upcoming decision by the Supreme Court in the case of Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, a landmark abortion case that could very well see the court finally overturn Roe after 49 years. In early May, a draft decision was leaked apparently confirming that five of the nine justices planned to vote to completely strike down Roe and return the matter of abortion to the individual states.