CHICAGO, Jan. 2 (UPI) -- The number of abortions performed in 2008 increased 5 percent in Illinois to 47,717, the most in 10 years, state officials reported.
Steve Trombley, head of Planned Parenthood in the Chicago area, suggested the recession drove the rise in abortions, the Chicago Sun-Times reported Saturday.
"When couples are facing an unintended pregnancy and have to make a decision whether they want to carry pregnancy to term and have another child, they'll factor economic circumstance into the decision," Trombley said.
The state Department of Public Health reported 47,717 abortions in 2008, the latest year for which it has figures. In 1998, there were 49,403.
Planned Parenthood runs clinics in Chicago, Champaign and in Aurora, a city outside Chicago. The Aurora clinic opened in late 2007, and Robert Gilligan, executive director of the Catholic Conference of Illinois, suggested the new clinic was responsible for much of the increase.
Gilligan also blamed a lack of laws aimed at discouraging abortion. A parental notification law has been stalled in the courts for years, and Gilligan is also pushing for a law that would require women to view ultrasound images of their fetuses before they have abortions.
