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GEN: fewer TOP'sFrom: art fougner, md (evsono@pipeline.com)Tue Dec 15 07:39:42 1998
This just in from AP - DECEMBER 11, 14:04 EST Abortions Reach 20-Year Low By VERENA DOBNIK Associated Press Writer NEW YORK (AP) — The nation's abortion rate reached a two-decade low largely because of more effective contraceptive methods, including new techniques such as implants and injections, according to a study. But the rate was still higher than that in many other developed Western countries, according to the study by the Guttmacher Institute, a research organization that receives some funding from Planned Parenthood. The decline in the U.S. rate was accompanied by a drop in the number of abortion providers, some of whom may have been frightened by violence, according to the study. ``When providers face harassment or violence from anti-abortion groups, and abortion is a very small part of their revenue, it may not be worth doing it,'' said Stanley Henshaw, author of the analysis published in the November/December issue of the institute's journal Family Planning Perspectives. The U.S. abortion rate in 1995 and 1996 among women ages 15-44 was 23 per 1,000, the lowest rate since 1975, when it was 22 per 1,000, according to the study. In its own survey, the national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention last week reported the rate for 1995 and 1996 was 20 per 1,000, also the lowest it has found in two decades. Still, the U.S. rate was higher than in many other Western countries, according to the Guttmacher study. It said the rate in Sweden in 1995 was 18 per 1,000, Canada 16, Wales and England 15 and The Netherlands six. Henshaw said much of the drop in the U.S. figures reflects more effective contraceptive methods that are being used by an increasing number of teen-agers. In 1995, he said, 10 percent of contraceptive users ages 15-19 were using a birth-control injection system of synthetic hormones that provides protection for months and 3 percent used a hormone-release device implanted in the arm. The implant's effectiveness can last years. These methods weren't available when the institute conducted its last such survey in 1992. The study was based on a survey of abortion providers. The researchers attempted to contact every abortion provider in the United States. Henshaw said he was able to obtain data for about 95 per cent of the facilities where abortions are performed. During the four years through 1996, the number of U.S. facilities providing abortions dropped from 2,380 to 2,042, a decline of 14 percent. For last year, with data still incomplete, that trend appears to have continued, according to the study. Poor women in rural America have the hardest time having their pregnancies ended. The greatest decline in services was among hospitals and physicians' offices — respectively 18 percent and 26 percent — where women in rural areas tend to have abortions. Of the 338 fewer facilities noted in the study, a decrease of 20 or more was in California (down 62 to 492), New York (down 23 to 266), North Carolina (down 27 to 59) and Pennsylvania (down 20 to 61). The Guttmacher Institute, a not-for-profit organization based in New York and Washington, focuses on reproductive health research, policy analysis and education. Happy Holidays!!! art
-- art fougner, md SonoScan/Genetic Sciences forest hills, ny evsono@pipeline.com
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