U.S. abortion rates hit an all-time low, Centers for Disease Control finds

Some academics point to the economic recession as a significant factor, as Americans are more careful with how they spend their money and can't afford to get pregnant.

“They stick to straight and narrow … and they are more careful about birth control,” Elizabeth Ananat, a Duke University assistant professor of public policy and economics who has researched abortions, told the Associated Press.

The study found that white women had the lowest abortion rate — 8.5 per 1,000 women of childbearing age. The rate for black women was four times that, while the rate for Hispanic women was about 19 per 1,000.

Mississippi had the lowest abortion rate at four per 1,000 women of childbearing age. New York had the highest abortion rate, roughly eight times Mississippi's.