Data from the latest report in the journal Obstetrics and Gynecology shows that abortion rates were lower in most groups of U.S. women, but still on the rise among low-income women.

Among U.S. women aged 15 to 44, the national abortion rate declined from 21 abortions for every 1,000 women, to 20 per 1,000, between the years 2000 and 2008, reported Reuters.

As for women with income below the U.S. poverty line, the figure climbed from 44 to 53% per every 1,000 women in the same time period. The women accounted for 16 of every 100 U.S. women aged 15 to 44 by 2008 for 42 of every 100 abortions.

Statistical data show that the annual figure of abortions in New York has averaged 90,000 in recent years, or about 40% of all pregnancies, twice the national rate.

This report comes as U.S. federal and state governments begin funding cuts, which may limit access to family planning services for poor Americans.

In New York State, 49 organizations receive $10 million a year in Title X funds to provide reproductive healthcare to approximately 400,000 patients. On February 18, 2010, House Republicans voted to strip federal funding from Planned Parenthood, though Planned Parenthood is already forbidden by law to use Title X funds for abortion procedures.

New York Abortion Abortion New York