After 40 years, the abortion rate in the United States has dropped to its lowest level since becoming a legal procedure.

According to USA Today, there has been a 13% decrease in the abortion rate and the number of abortions in the years 2008 to 2011.

The lowest rate in 1973 was a rate of 16.3 and then continued to rise until it peaked at 29.3 in 1981 and since then it has dropped to 16.9 abortions per 1,000 women between the ages of 15 to 44 as reported in 2011.

Carol Tobias, president of the National Right to Life Committee said, "It shows that women are rejecting the idea of abortion as the answer to an unexpected pregnancy."

Along with the abortion rate, the number of abortion clinics have also fallen. FOX News said that a report stated that the number of clinics dropped by 4 percent making the number of available clinics go from 1,720 in 2008 to 839 in 2011.

Rachel Jones, the lead author of the abortion rates report, believes the decrease in abortion clinics is a link between the steep national decline in pregnancy and birth rates.

States listed as the highest in abortion rates are New York, Maryland, Deleware and New Jersey. The lowest states with abortion rates include Wyoming, Mississippi, South Dakota, Kentucky, and Missouri.