The number of legal abortions performed in the United States declined in 1997 to the lowest level in about two decades, federal health officials reported on January 6. The Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said 1,184,758 legal induced abortions were reported in 1997, the latest year for which figures were available.
The 1997 total represented a 3 percent decrease from the 1,221,585 abortions reported in 1996 and the lowest annual total since 1978, said the CDC, which based its findings on figures received from the 50 states, New York City and the District of Columbia. The CDC said the national abortion ratio, or the number of legal abortions per 1,000 live births, decreased in 1997 to 305 abortions per 1,000 live births, the lowest for any year since 1975.
