Birth control access, use key in abortion decline

Sabrina Caramando, 2W
Birth control access, use key in abortion decline. (2014, Feb 05). Kennebec Journal Retrieved from 

Editorial's central claim:  Abortion is not declining because of restrictions, but by birth control.  We should focus on what unites us by bettering the lives of women with easy access to birth control.

Evidence:  Maine is a center of pro-reproductive rights, and has seen a 12% drop in the abortion rate from 2008 to 2011.  In relation, use of effective birth control (IUDs and hormone implants) has also increased in the same timespan.  Also, the fairly new The Affordable Care Act has mandated that contraceptives be covered by all healthcare plans.  Finally, 89% of all U.S. adults believe contraception in morally acceptable to prevent unintended pregnancies.

My opinion:  I believe that the reason why abortion rate have gone down is because of more accessible contraceptives.  Before the Affordable Care Act, abortion rates were much higher than they are now, and was also a time when birth control was not readily available to everyone.  Abortion restriction attempts are not the reason why this safe and legal procedure is not as common today.  Men and women are being educated about and given recourses to birth control that has decreased the rate of unwanted pregnancies, and therefore, the rate of abortion.