In keeping with its conservative roots, the rate of legal abortions in Utah experienced a 49 percent decrease in the last 25 years.
A February 2007 report from the Utah Department of Health Center for Health Data, conducted by the Office of Vital Records and Statistics, found that in Utah the rate of legal abortions per 1,000 women aged 15 to 44 dramatically declined from 11.2 in 1980 to 5.7 in 2005.
Although the use of contraception is a major factor in the decline of abortion rates across the nation, according to the report, of the Utah residents who received abortions in 2005, 45 percent had a history of contraceptive use.
In an effort to explain the declining trend, Dr. William R. Adams, the medical director at Mountain View Women's Clinic in Salt Lake City, said, "I think the declining abortion rate in Utah, as in the nation, is due to teens having access to better information, through the internet, plus being more open in discussions concerning sex."
And the statistics seem to support his statements. The introduction of the Internet and the resulting information explosion of the 1990s correspond with a 41 percent drop in the abortion rate in the past 10 years.
In 1990 the abortion rate in Utah was still at 10.5, only a 6 percent decrease from 1980, but by 2000 it steadily fell until it reached 6.2.
But even with this apparent correlation, Adams does not see availability of information in and of itself as the cure-all to continue this trend of decreasing abortion rates in Utah.
"Despite the more open atmosphere, teens still get a whole bunch of misinformation," Adams said. "They would greatly benefit from sex education classes in school that answer questions about contraception, sexually transmitted diseases, and the responsibility and obligations that go with sex and parenting."
Unfortunately the very facilities equipped for and willing to fill Adams' prescription for more education and awareness are also on the decline.
In 1996, seven abortion clinics existed in Utah, but in keeping with the trend, as of this year, only three of the seven remain.
The Mountain View Women's Clinic, Utah Women's Clinic, and Wasatch Women's Center are the only facilities where abortions are currently available in Utah and all three are located in Salt Lake City.
This consolidation of abortion providers is not unique to Happy Valley. According to a recent national survey conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau, 88 percent of all U.S. counties have no identifiable abortion provider, and this statistics increases to 97 percent in non-metropolitan areas.
According to the Alan Guttmacher Institute Web site, a special affiliate of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, harassment and intimidation from extremists explains some of the drop in abortion providers, but the fact that abortion service is now recognized as a specialized medical sub-discipline, which caused it to be concentrated into the hands of only a few specialized providers, also contributed.
Lucy Moore, a BYU student and life-long Utah resident, said, "I think it's comforting that there are fewer abortion clinics. If you want an abortion badly enough you'll go as far as Europe to get one. Who cares if you don't have easy access in every county?"
Although some, like Moore, think the decreased prominence of and access to abortion clinics is a viable way to discourage abortive procedures, it also diminishes a woman's constitutionally protected right to choose whether to terminate her pregnancy as established in Roe v. Wade and the accompanying Doe v. Bolton, which said that a state may not unduly burden a woman's fundamental right to abortion by prohibiting or substantially limiting access to the means of effectuating her decision.
