Indiana sees bigger decline in abortion rate than US

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) – The number of abortions performed in Indiana has fallen nearly 20 percent in recent years, a rate steeper than what’s been seen nationally.

State Department of Health figures show the decline occurred from 2010 through 2013, when slightly more than 8,000 abortions were reported.

A survey by The Associated Press found a national decrease of about 12 percent during the same period.

Abortions have declined in states where new laws make it harder to have them, but they’ve also waned in states where abortion rights are protected, an Associated Press survey finds.

Indiana Right to Life president Mike Fichter attributes some of the state’s decline to new laws requiring that pregnant women be given an opportunity to view an ultrasound image and hear the fetal heartbeat before an abortion.

Planned Parenthood of Indiana president Betty Cockrum says 23 Indiana teenagers on average become pregnant each day and that not enough is being done to provide sex education programs.