Abortion rate for Latinas much higher than for whites in U.S, says research

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Although the overall U.S. abortion rate is at its lowest level since 1974, the drop has been far more dramatic for whites than for African Americans, who in 2004 had abortions at five times the rate of white women, according to a report released Monday.

The abortion rate for Latinas was about three times that of whites, reports Mary Engel.

The Guttmacher Institute, a New York research group that supports abortion rights but whose statistics are generally respected by anti-abortion groups, analyzed 30 years of data since the U.S. Supreme Court’s 1973 Roe vs. Wade decision legalizing abortion.

The analysis found that the differences partly reflected varying pregnancy and childbearing patterns.

-- Deborah Bonello