Abortion rates are at the lowest they've been since 2010, a new Associated Press report finds, with the majority of states showing a 12% decrease in the procedure.

The explanations behind the numbers vary depending on who you ask, but the decrease happened consistently across the 45 states from across the political spectrum. A similar decrease occurred, according to the report, in both the states with more restrictive abortion laws and states with more clinics and access.

Many of those who don't support abortion think this drop means people are starting to view their unplanned pregnancies differently: That women just don't want as many abortions.

Charmaine Yoest, the President of Americans United for Life - an anti-abortion group that promotes abortion-restricting legislation - told the AP that, "There's an entire generation of women who saw a sonogram as their first baby picture. There's an increased awareness of the humanity of the baby before it is born."

However, in more and more states, many pro-choice advocates say it's getting very hard to access abortion services to begin with. According to the Guttmacher Institute, a pro-choice research group, more than half of women "of reproductive age" live in states that are considered "hostile" toward abortion rights.

Since 2011, the AP reports, 267 abortion-restrictions have been passed in 31 states. These restrictions range from banning abortions after a certain amount of time, additional (and often controversial) steps for the women and their doctors, along with an increased scrutiny (and decreased funding) of abortion clinics.

About 70 clinics in a dozen states have closed since 2010, the AP reports, and all those closed-down clinics mean that many women in more restrictive states - especially the ones who can't afford to travel - are denied the procedures and resources they need. The AP reports that the only two states with increased numbers (Republican-led Michigan and Louisiana) saw their numbers go up because more women from other states traveled across state lines to have their abortions.

But there's another, very important part of the equation: Teen pregnancy.

The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy reports that the rate of births from teens in the United States has decreased by 57% between 1991 and 2013. Between 2012 and 2013 alone the rate of teen births dropped 10% to 27 per every 1,000 teens - the lowest rate ever reported in the United States.

Why is it happening? Turns out, better access to sex education, different birth control methods and family planning resources might just be the answer behind it all.

Researchers at the Guttmacher Institute said in a 2014 report that the changes are "primarily, though not exclusively," due to teens having better access to (and general knowledge of) contraceptives.

Researchers found that between 2008 and 2010 the use of "highly effective" birth control methods (like the pill or an IUD) increased. Instead of being used by 37% of women aged 15-19, it upped to 47%.

In the years that followed, they found that young women were also way more likely to use one or more birth control methods at a time - pairing long-lasting, reversible methods (like IUD and implants) with barrier methods (like condoms). You can never be too safe, after all.

There's a real powerful connection between this kind of decrease and access to birth control options that suit women's lifestyles, needs and incomes.

The Washington Post's 2014 report on the historic drop in teen birth rates followed the impressive numbers that were coming out of Colorado at the time. They found that once the state introduced better funding to provide lower-income women with free or cheap "long-acting, reversible contraception" options - IUDs, patches and implants - the number of teen pregnancies dropped significantly.

Lack of access to and knowledge of these tools was the real issue; Preventing abortions starts with preventing unwanted pregnancies.

"Better access to birth control and sex education are the biggest factors in reducing unintended pregnancies," Cecile Richards, president of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America told the AP. "More restrictive abortion laws do not reduce the need for abortions."