Abortion in America: Too Many, Not Enough?

(CBS/AP) For 20 years, the number of abortions in America has been steadily declining. No more. The abortion rate leveled out in 2008, bucking a long tern trend.

That's part of the news from a new national study of abortion by the Guttmacher Institute, which advocates for reproductive health, including access to abortion.

The study, which directly queried abortion providers, and looked at data from 2008 as well as previous years, found that 1.21 million abortions were performed in 2008 - at a rate of 19.6 abortions per 1,000 women aged 15-44. Both numbers were slightly up from 2005. In 1981, when abortions peaked, there were 29.3 abortions for every 1,000 women.

The study had other interesting insights into the state of abortion in America.

Non-surgical abortion, using drugs, rose from 161,000 to 199,000 cases between 2005 and 2008, meaning more abortions were performed earlier, when they are safest for the woman.

The number of abortion providers stayed steady, says the report, but that still means 87 percent of U.S. counties lack a provider.

About the only things up in the report were the number of anti-abortion protests and new laws restricting access. Eighty-nine percent of large, non-hospital abortion providers had to deal with protesters, a 7 percent jump from 2000. Picketing was the most common tactic (55 percent), but blocking patient access was also very prominent at 21 percent.

At the state level, a new Nebraska law restricts abortions after 20 weeks and five states passed laws to limit insurance coverage of abortions in new health care exchanges.

All of this is good news or bad news depending on your point of view.

WHAT DO YOU THINK?
Are you worried that the abortion rate isn't declining, happy that protests are increasing, concerned about new restrictions or anything else. We want to hear from you.