A report form the Alan Guttmacher Institute provides wide ranging
statistics and demographic information on women who had abortions.

In addition to reporting that abortion numbers continued to drop in 2001 and 2002, the report contains findings that may bolster arguments made by social conservatives on several different issues, including one finding that would indicate contraceptive use may not stop unplanned pregnancies.

The Alan Guttmacher Institute is the research arm of Planned Parenthood and openly supports abortion and widespread access to contraceptives.

The report placed great emphasis on the fact that 48 percent of pregnancies in the US are unplanned. Of those unplanned pregnancies, 47 percent end in abortion, 40 percent are carried to full term and 13 percent end in miscarriage.

Advocates of abortion often argue that to decrease abortions,
unintended pregnancies must be reduced through increased access to
contraceptives.

But the Guttmacher Institute's research indicates that 53 percent of women who have unintended pregnancies used a contraceptive method during the month they got pregnant.

The data also indicates that marriage plays a unique role as a
protector of the unborn. According to the report, "Married women account for a lower proportion of abortions (17%), in part because they have low rates of unintended pregnancy," but even in cases of unintended pregnancies, married women "are more likely than unmarried women to continue the pregnancy."

And cohabitation is not an adequate substitute for marriage.

"About 25% of abortions occur among women living with a male partner to whom they are not married