Available facilities providing abortions down; many women live in county without abortion provider
WEDNESDAY, March 21, 2018 (HealthDay News) — The percentage of abortions performed by the medication method is increasing, and most abortions are performed in a non-hospital setting, according to a report published by the National Academy of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.
B. Ned Calonge, M.D., Ph.D., from the University of Colorado Denver, and colleagues examined the scientific evidence on the safety and quality of four abortion methods used in the United States: medication, aspiration, dilation and evacuation, and induction.
The researchers note that there was a considerable decrease in the abortion rate in U.S. women between 1980 and 2014. The most common abortion method is aspiration, which accounted for almost 68 percent of abortions performed in 2013. From 2004 to 2013, there was an increase in the percentage of total abortions by the medication method, from 10.6 to 22.3 percent. Most abortions performed in 2014 were performed in non-hospital settings; less than 5 percent were provided in hospitals. The number of facilities providing abortions is declining, with the greatest decrease in states that have enacted abortion-specific regulations. In 2014, there were 17 percent fewer abortion clinics than in 2011, and 39 percent of women of reproductive age resided in a county without an abortion provider.
“This report provides a comprehensive review of the state of the science on the safety and quality of abortion services in the United States,” the authors write.
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