Number of abortions in US falls to lowest since 1973

• A research group counted 862,000 abortions in the U.S. in 2017.
• That number and rate is the lowest level since the procedure became legal nationwide in 1973.
• One reason for the decline is that fewer women are becoming pregnant.

Abortion-rights activists gathered outside the U.S. Supreme Court to protest against abortion laws passed across the country.

Aurora Samerio | NurPhoto | Getty Images

A new report shows that the number and rate of abortions across the U.S. have plunged to their lowest levels since the procedure became legal nationwide in 1973.

The report from the Guttmacher Institute, a research group that supports abortion rights, counted 862,000 abortions in the U.S. in 2017. That's down from 926,000 tallied in the group's previous report for 2014.

One reason for the decline is that fewer women are becoming pregnant. The Guttmacher Institute noted that the birth rate, as well as the abortion rate, declined during the years covered by the new report.

Guttmacher is the only entity that strives to count all abortions in the U.S., making inquiries of individual providers. Federal data excludes California, Maryland and New Hampshire.