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Abortion less on demand

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AGEING, AIDS and perhaps hard-earned wisdom are at last starting to reduce America's sky-high abortion rate. Since peaking in 1980 at 25 abortions per 1,000 women of child-bearing age, it dropped to 21 per 1,000 in 1994, the latest year for which statistics are available. Measured as a percentage of live births, abortion has fallen to its lowest level since 1976. Pregnant Americans are increasingly unlikely to choose to have an abortion.

This article appeared in the New Articles section of the print edition under the headline “Abortion less on demand”

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