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WASHINGTON, D.C., December 02, 2013 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Abortion numbers are continuing to decline, according to the latest figures from the Center for Disease Control (CDC), which found that 765,651 abortions were committed in the U.S. states that report abortion numbers in 2010. This number is down three percent from 2009, which was in turn down five percent from 2008. 

However, California, Maryland, and New Hampshire do not report abortion numbers, meaning that the total number of abortions in the country is likely considerably higher than the total as reported by the CDC. 

The CDC's records on abortion are typically approximately two-thirds that of what is reported by the Guttmacher Institute, a research organization that was founded as an arm of Planned Parenthood.

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For example, an October report from the Guttmacher Institute examined data from 2008, and found that 1.21 million abortions were done that year. Meanwhile, the CDC reported that only 865,564 abortions were committed that year.

The CDC report also compared data from 2001 to 2010 from the 46 “reporting areas” that consistently sent in their abortion numbers, revealing a significant decrease in abortion numbers particularly in the last five years of that decade. Between 2001 and 2010, the total number of abortions decreased by nine percent.

During that 10-year period, the greatest number of abortions were performed on women in their twenties. 

In 2010, women 20 to 29 years old accounted for 57.4% of abortions, while women over 30 accounted for 27.6% of abortions. Women and girls 15 to 19 accounted for 14.6% of abortions. Abortion rates for women 40 and over increased from 2001 to 2010, whereas abortions performed on adolescent (15 to 19 years old) women decreased, and the rate of adolescent abortions also went down. 

Nearly ninety-two percent of abortions were committed at or before 13 weeks' gestation, and 1.2% were performed at or after 21 weeks' gestation. Congress is debating legislation that would make most abortions after 20 weeks' gestation illegal, which could prevent nearly 9,200 abortions annually, using the CDC numbers. 

In its report the CDC's “public health” recommended increased use of “reversible” contraception. From the report: “Unintended pregnancy is the major contributor to abortion. Because unintended pregnancies are rare among women who use the most effective methods of reversible contraception, increasing access to and use of these methods can help further reduce the number of abortions performed in the United States.” 

The report does not mention abstinence, which has a 100% success rate in preventing unintended pregnancies, or Natural Family Planning, which has a success rate equal to or exceeding that of reversible contraception.

According to Damon Owens, Executive Director of the Theology of the Body Institute, the CDC argument for contraception as a way to prevent abortions is lacking. He told LifeSiteNews.com that “many solid studies show the effectiveness of modern natural family planning methods. One of the latest and largest long-term studies came out of the University of Heidelberg, Germany, focusing on a sympto-thermal (double-check) method, was reported by the lead author to have a pregnancy rate of .4% – far lower than the 1% success rate found through contraceptive use.”