Abortion seems to be a topic on everyone’s mind because many Americans are pro-life, or in other words anti-abortion, while others are pro-choice, meaning they believe that it is the individual’s responsibility and right to choose whether or not they should get an abortion. Pro-lifers believe there should be a ban, or stricter restrictions, on abortions while pro-choicers believe that women should have access to safe abortions and should not be shamed for it.
As a nation, we should shift some of our attention from abortion itself, and focus more on reducing unplanned pregnancies and increasing contraceptive use. Guttmacher Institute claims that an increase in contraceptive use has decreased the number of abortions since 2008. The abortion rate declined `by 25%. The biggest decline was seen in women between ages 15 and 19, which had a 46% decrease. Along with this significant drop, the teen pregnancy rate hit an all time low in 2014, suggesting that the promotion of contraceptive use has had a positive impact on people’s sex lives.
When people push for more contraceptive use, we don’t have to focus so much on unplanned pregnancies or abortion rates because they will naturally decrease as a result of the increase in contraceptive use. Now, this does not mean we should ignore the issues altogether, just that they don’t need to be so controversial.
To get a better understanding of the decline in abortion rates, here’s a handy chart that breaks down the demographics:
