The abortion rate in the U.S. stopped declining for the first time in almost 20 years, according to a new survey — and experts think the recession may have played a role.
There were 1.21 million abortions in 2008 — a rate of 19.6 abortions per 1,000 women aged 15 to 44, according to the Guttmacher Institute, which surveys U.S. abortion providers.
Both totals represented about a 1% bump from the previous survey in 2005, when there were 19.4 abortions per 1,000 and 1,206,200 total procedures.
The increase was the first since 1990, when abortions in the U.S. peaked at 1.6 million, and the abortion rate was 27.4.
Full story: U.S. abortion rates stop declining for the first time since 1990
