Why fewer women seek abortions

It’s “ a fascinating irony of the pro-life movement,” said David Frum.
Abortion rates are plummeting in the U.S., largely because of prolifers’
efforts. But at the same time, out-of-wedlock births are
soaring—and among the poor and the lower middle class, are actually
becoming the norm. There were 730,000 abortions in 2011, according
to the latest official tally—the smallest number in nearly 40
years. Over the past two decades, the incidence of abortion has nearly
halved.

Why? It’s not primarily because of better access to contraception:
Surveys show 40 percent of women are not using birth control,
and half of all U.S. pregnancies are unintended. What’s changed are
social attitudes. There used to be a stigma to giving birth out of wedlock,
but the sexual revolution has removed it. At the same time, the
pro-life movement has created grave doubts that a fetus is just a clump
of cells. Today, only 38 percent of Americans say abortion is “morally
acceptable.” The confounding result is a society “where not only is
abortion safe, legal, and rare—but so is married child rearing.”

Source: David Frum; The Atlantic