US sees further drop in number of abortions: CDC

The U.S. has continued to see a drop in the number of reported abortions, according to data released Wednesday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

There were 623,471 abortions performed in areas across the country that reported data to federal officials in 2016, the latest available year for data, down from 636,902 the previous year, the CDC found.

The latest abortion rate was 11.6 abortions per 1,000 women between the ages of 15 and 44 — down slightly from 11.8 in 2015 — while the overall abortion ratio ticked down to 186 abortions per 1,000 live births.

The 2016 abortion figures were based on counts provided to the CDC from 47 states and New York City. California, Maryland, New Hampshire and Washington, D.C., did not provide data. The three states also did not provide data in previous years.

The total number of abortions since 2007 in the states that reported their data to the federal government decreased by 24 percent, from 825,240, and the abortion ratio decreased 18 percent from the previous count, 226 abortions per 1,000 live births.

In 2016, most women who received abortions were in their 20s, with 30 percent of all abortions being performed on women age 20 to 24. Another 28.5 percent of abortions were performed on women between the ages of 25 and 29.

Nearly two-thirds, 65 percent, of all abortions were performed at or before eight weeks of gestation and 91 percent were performed at or before 13 weeks of gestation, while 1.2 percent were performed at or after 21 weeks of gestation.

The CDC identified three deaths linked to abortion in 2015, the latest year with available data. It found that two deaths were related to legal abortion, no deaths were related to illegal abortion and that for one death, the circumstances were unknown.