Missouri helps lead the way as U.S. abortion rate declines

Missouri had the second-lowest abortion rate in the nation in 2018, according to new data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention The state’s abortion rate dropped by 35 percent between 2016 and 2018, and it also became the sixth state to have only one abortion clinic.

Although there was a slight uptick in the national abortion rate between 2017 and 2018, the long-term decline has continued. On the whole, the abortion rate in the United States has declined fairly steadily since 1980

According to the new numbers, the abortion rate fell by approximately 2.6 percent between 2016 and 2018. That decline was fairly consistent across states, as 29 of the 46 states that reported abortion data in both 2016 and 2018 reported abortion-rate reductions.

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Coverage of new abortion data often focuses on short-term trends. However, the long-term decline in the U.S. abortion rate is far more impressive. In those states that consistently report data to the CDC, the abortion rate fell by more than 24 percent between 2009 and 2018. Furthermore, the CDC data indicate that the abortion rate has fallen by more than 50 percent since 1980.

The abortion trends reported by the CDC are largely similar to those reported by the Guttmacher Institute, which released 2017 abortion data last fall (although Guttmacher estimates suggest that there are far more abortions annually in the United States than those that are reported by states to the CDC).

Additionally, there are some abortion trends in specific states that are of interest to pro-lifers. In 2018, Illinois began funding elective abortion through the state Medicaid program. Unsurprisingly, between 2016 and 2018, the abortion rate in Illinois increased by 10.6 percent. Illinois is one of seven states that saw its abortion rate increase by more than 10 percent.

Many pro-life advocates across the nation credit the policies of the Trump administration for the dramatic decline in the abortion rate.

–Dwight Widaman | Metro Voice