Fewer U.S. women are having abortions than at any time since Roe v. Wade, according to new government figures released Wednesday. 
 
 In 2015, the most recent year for which data is available, a total of 638,169 abortions were reported, a decrease of 2 percent from 652,639 abortions in 2014. The abortion rate was 11.8 abortions per 1,000 women ages 15-44 in 2015, compared with 12.1 in 2014 and 15.9 in 2006. 
 
 In the years immediately after abortion was legalized nationwide in 1973, the number of legal abortions rose dramatically, reaching its peak in the 1980s. Abortions then began dropping at a slow rate until around 2006 to 2008, when they increased slightly, followed by even greater decreases in recent years. 
 
 The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention surveillance report comes at a heated time for abortion politics in the country, with Trump administration officials introducing new policies to reduce funding to abortion providers and state legislatures debating ever more restrictive laws on abortion. Just this week, a federal court in Mississippi blocked the state’s ban against abortions past 15 weeks gestation. In signing the bill into law, Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant (R) had said he hoped to make the state the “safest place in America for an unborn child.” 
 
 While the CDC paper did not delve into the reasons for the decline, analysts have cited improved access to birth control, which has led to a decrease in unintended pregnancies, especially among teens, as well as the state laws regarding parental consent, waiting periods and other conditions that make it more difficult for women to get abortions. 
 
 "Analyses have suggested that improved contraceptive use played a role in the long-term declines. In some states, decreased access to abortion services contributed, as well,” said Rachel Jones, principal research scientist for the Guttmacher Institute, a research group that supports women’s right to abortion. 
 
 
 
 Abortion Surveillance - United States 2015, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 
 
 Chuck Donovan, president of the Charlotte Lozier Institute, the research arm of Susan B. Anthony List, which opposes abortion, added other possible causes: “a higher percentage of women today decide to carry an unexpected pregnancy to term, teenagers are less sexually active and with fewer partners, pro-life views are more prevalent among the rising generation than they were 40 years ago.” 
 
 He called the decline “sharp and consistent” and pointed out that the U.S. abortion rate is half of what it was in 1980. 
 
 The data is isn’t 100 percent complete — California, Maryland and New Hampshire did not participate, and the reporting is better in some places than others — but it nonetheless provides a window into the overall trends and demographics of who is seeking abortions. The report shows tremendous variation by age, race and geographic region. 
 
 While the abortion rate decreased across all age groups in 2015, women in their 20s accounted for nearly 60 percent of all abortions. The abortion rate was 19.9 for women ages 20-24 and 17.9 for ages 25-29. 
 
 White women had the lowest abortion rate, at 6.8 abortions per 1,000 women, and black women had the highest abortion rate at 25.1 per 1,000. “The findings in this report indicate that the number, rate, and ratio of reported abortions have declined across all race/ethnicity groups but that well-documented disparities persist,” Tara C. Jatlaoui, from the CDC’s division of reproductive health, and co-authors wrote. 
 
 There was also considerable variation among jurisdictions, from a rate of 2.8 abortions in South Dakota to 23.1 abortions in New York. 
 
 One major source of controversy in recent years has been the widespread availability of medical abortions or pills such as RU-486 that can be taken to induce abortion without surgical intervention. In 2015, about a quarter of all abortions involved medical abortion, which can be done only early in a pregnancy. 
 
 The report did not have information about deaths from complications of abortion in 2015, saying the data was still being assessed. In 2014, six women died as a result of legal induced abortion. 

 (CNN) Abortion rates in the United States have dropped to their lowest level in 10 years, according to a report released Wednesday by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 
 
 From 2006 to 2015, the year of the latest completed survey , reported abortions from participating areas fell 24%, from 842,855 to 638,169. 
 
 Going back to 1969, the CDC has completed its "abortion surveillance" to measure the number and characteristics of women who obtain legal abortions. Requests for information go out to the central health agencies in all 50 states, plus Washington and New York City. The most recent surveillance included voluntary abortion data from 49 areas, the exceptions being California, Maryland and New Hampshire. 
 
 What researchers found was a striking decrease from where abortion rates were a decade ago. In addition to the steep drop in the number of reported abortions, the rates fell in two other categories. The number of abortions among women 15-44 went down 26%, from 15.9 to 11.8 abortions per 1,000 women. And the number of abortions per 1,000 live births went down by 19%, from 233 to 188. 
 
 Compared with the previous year, 2014, there was a 2% decrease in abortions across the three measures. 
 
 Because reporting is voluntary and requirements for reporting vary across the country, the CDC acknowledges that the findings have limitations. The number of abortions reported to the CDC, for example, is 68% to 71% of the number established in a census of abortion providers by the Guttmacher Institute, a research and policy group focused on reproductive health and rights, the report says. 
 
 But still, the findings offer significant insights into how abortion is trending in the United States. 
 
 "The new CDC report shows a continuation of long-term declines in abortions," said Rachel Jones, principal research scientist at the Guttmacher Institute. "Analyses have suggested that improved contraceptive use played a role... In some states, decreased access to abortion services contributed as well." 
 
 Who's getting abortions 
 
 The majority of women who had abortions in 2015 were in their 20s; 31.1% were aged 20-24 and 27.6% were aged 25-29. 
 
 While decreases in abortion rates were seen across all age groups, the greatest decline over the decade was seen in adolescents. The rate of abortions in those aged 15-19 fell 54% between 2006 and 2015, the report shows. 
 
 More than 59% of those who had abortions in 2015 were women who'd given birth before. More than 14% were women who'd had three or more births. 
 
 A large percentage of women who had abortions in 2015 had had abortions before, according to the latest study. Nearly 44% had had one or more previous abortions; more than 8% had had three or more. 
 
 Based on areas that reported race and ethnicity data, the largest percentages of abortions in 2015 were had by non-Hispanic white women (36.9%) and non-Hispanic black women (36%). Hispanic women accounted for 18.5% of all abortions in 2015, while non-Hispanic women of other races made up 8.7%. 
 
 When and how are they getting abortions 
 
 Nearly two-thirds of all abortions in 2015 were performed at no later than eight weeks of gestation. More than 91% of abortions happened at 13 weeks or less of gestation. 
 
 Over the decade surveyed, the percentage of abortions performed at 13 weeks or more remained low, staying at 9% or less. And the percentage of earlier abortions increased, with those occurring at six weeks or less going up by 11%. 
 
 Early medical abortion, a nonsurgical abortion at 8 weeks or less gestation, accounted for nearly 25% of abortions in 2015. Of those that were eligible for this method, which uses medications, nearly 36% of women opted for this approach. 
 
 More than 64% of abortions were performed surgically at 13 or less weeks' gestation. About 9% were performed surgically after 13 weeks' gestation. 
 
 The implications 
 
 Surveillance of legal abortions in the US helps "to guide and evaluate the success of programs aimed at preventing unintended pregnancies," the report says. 
 
 According to the most recent study, unintended pregnancies in the United States have gone down from 51% in 2008 to 45% in 2011-2013. 
 
 The rate of abortions can be influenced by a number of factors, the report shows, including availability of contraception, information and health care; access to abortion providers; changes in laws; and shifts in the economy and in attitudes about things like nonmarital childbearing. 
 
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 Lowering the number of both unintended pregnancies and abortions often go hand-in-hand, the study shows. 
 
 And you can't talk about unintended pregnancies without talking about abortions, said Jones of the Guttmacher Institute. 
 
 "Affordable access to the full range of contraception and family planning options is critical for people deciding if and when they'd like to become parents, develop their careers, plan for their futures, and manage their health," she said. "For women who become but do not want to remain pregnant, access to safe, legal abortion services remains critical." 

 NEW YORK (Reuters) - A U.S. government agency said on Wednesday that abortion rates among American women of all ages fell to a decade low in 2015, which both opponents and supporters of abortion rights attributed in part to individual states’ efforts to restrict women’s access to the procedure. 
 
 The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that statistics for 2015, the most recent year for which data is available, show the abortion rate was 11.8 abortions per 1,000 women aged 15 to 44. That is down 26 percent from 2006, when the study began and the rate was 15.9 abortions per 1,000 women. 
 
 Teens aged 15 to 19 experienced a greater decrease than older women, with the rate falling 54 percent from 2006 to 2015, the CDC said. 
 
 “This decrease in abortion rate was greater than the decreases for women in any older age group,” the CDC said in a statement. 
 
 The CDC did not provide any reason for the decline, but abortion rights advocates attributed it to increased use of contraceptives as well as decreased access to abortion services in some states. 
 
 “Affordable access to the full range of contraception and family planning options is critical for people deciding if and when they’d like to become parents, develop their careers, plan for their futures and manage their health,” said Rachel Jones, research scientist at Guttmacher Institute, a reproductive health think tank that supports abortion rights. 
 
 Opponents of abortion rights said the decrease was primarily the result of many states’ efforts to restrict women’s access to the procedure. 
 
 “That is due, in a significant way, to pro-life legislation that seeks to provide life-affirming solutions to abortion, combined with pro-life efforts that educate Americans about the effects of abortion and the humanity of the unborn child,” Carol Tobias, president of the National Right to Life Committee, said in an email. 
 
 The total number of reported abortions fell to 638,169 in 2015, from 842,855 in 2006, a 24 percent decrease. In 2015, there were 188 abortions per 1,000 live births, compared with 233 abortions per 1,000 live births in 2006, a drop of 19 percent. 
 
 In 2015, all measures reached their lowest level for the entire period of analysis from 2006 to 2015, the CDC said of the annual study, “Abortion Surveillance - United States 2015.” 
 
 Conservative state lawmakers are passing increasingly restrictive abortion laws in a challenge to Roe v. Wade, the U.S. Supreme Court’s 1973 landmark decision that established that women have a constitutional right to an abortion. 
 
 An exam room at the Planned Parenthood South Austin Health Center is shown in Austin, Texas, U.S. June 27, 2016. REUTERS/Ilana Panich-Linsman 
 
 The Republican-controlled Ohio House of Representatives last week approved a measure that would ban abortions at six weeks, while an Iowa law banning abortions after a fetal heartbeat is detected is tied up in a court battle. [L2N1XW020] 
 
 Such laws are designed to end up before the Supreme Court, which has become more conservative following President Donald Trump’s appointments of Justices Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh. 
 
 The CDC study also showed 91.1 percent of abortions performed in 2015 were in a woman’s first 13 weeks of pregnancy. There was also a shift toward earlier abortions, with the number performed at six weeks or less increasing 11 percent.
– The number of abortions being performed in the US appears to have dropped sharply over the last decade. The CDC released figures showing that 638,169 abortions were logged in reporting areas in 2015, down from 852,385 in 2006, reports Reuters. That translates into a drop of 15.9 abortions per 1,000 women in 2006 to 11.8 per 1,000 women in 2015. The numbers have dropped each year in that 10-year span. One caveat: California, Maryland, and New Hampshire did not participate in the CDC stats, notes the Washington Post. Still, while the numbers are not 100% complete, they are believed to accurately capture the nationwide trend. Better access to birth control and various states' efforts to restrict abortions were seen as two big reasons for the decline. Some of the stats: Age: Most of the women getting abortions were in their 20s, reports CNN, with 31.1% aged 20-24 and 27.6% aged 25-29. Race: White women had the lowest rate, 6.8 abortions per 1,000 women, while black women had the highest, at 25.1 per 1,000. Location: Rates in the reporting states ranged from 2.8 per 1,000 in South Dakota to 23.1 per 1,000 in New York. When: 91% of the abortions happened at 13 weeks or less of gestation. (The issue factored in the Brett Kavanaugh hearings.)