U.S. Abortion Rates Slightly Higher than Miscarriages: CDC

Pregnancy and abortion rates in the U.S. are at their lowest since almost three decades ago, according to a report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Center for Health Statistics.

According to the CDC, they have found that birth rates have been at a steady decline since 2007. The pregnancy rate, however, saw its lowest rates in 2010. With only a mere 98.7 getting pregnant out of 1,000 women aged 15-44, this has been the lowest since 1976 and is 15 percent below the 1990 peak rate at 115.8 per 1,000.

They reported that the decline in the overall pregnancy rates from 1990 to 2010 also included lowered birth and induced abortion rates. Abortions accounted for 35 percent of the decline while births accounted for 10 percent.

The CDC said that the estimated number of pregnancies in 2010 were only at about 6.155 million, which is the lowest number since they tracked from 1986. The year 2010 saw 65 percent (3.999 million) live births, 18 percent (1.102 million) induced abortions, and 17 percent (1.053 million) fetal losses, or miscarriages.

Speaking to Time, National Center for Health Statistics statistician and report co-author Sally Curtin said that analyzing the rates together lets them see it in a greater context.

“Much has been written about the birth rate, and much about the abortion rate, but a lot are shown separately,” Curtin said.

“If we put abortions in context, you can see that in a given year, the numbers of abortions, which is 1.1 million, is about the same as fetal loss,” Curtin continued. “It used to be very different, if you look back; the number of abortions in 1976 was almost twice that.”

Compared with an earlier statistical tracking in 1990, the pregnancy rates in 2010 for women under under age 30 were lower. The largest decline occurred among teenage subgroups, with those aged 14 and below having a 67 percent reduction and those 15-19 having a reduction of 50 percent.

Pregnancy rates in 2010, however, were highest for women aged 25-29 at 157.1 per 1,000, followed by those aged 20-24 at 144.6. Both still declined compared to 1990, at 12 and 17 percent, respectively.

Non-Hispanic black women saw the highest pregnancy rates in 2010 at 135.1 per 1000, followed by Hispanic women at 118.4, and then lowest for non-Hispanic white women at 84.1.

The CDC report states that while estimates are hampered by the available data, births still occupy the majority of all pregnancy outcomes, and birth rates still continued dropping from 2010 to 2013. Recent estimates also show that abortion rates dropped between 2010 and 2011.