By most measures, abortions have declined in recent decades

After an initial steep increase in abortion in the 1970s, abortion leveled off in the 1980s and generally decreased throughout the 1990s. Since 1990, the number of abortions has decreased by 25 percent, the abortion rate by 29 percent, and the abortion ratio by 20 percent.

Abortion statistics from two different sources

Sources: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2011, and Guttmacher Institute, 2011.