Ohio saw a 12 percent drop last year in the number of abortions performed, which marks the largest percentage decline since 1992, according to a state Department of Health report released Monday.

Last year, 24,764 abortions were performed in Ohio, 3,359 fewer than in 2010 and the lowest number reported since data collection began in 1976. Last year’s total marks a 35 percent drop over the 38,140 abortions performed in 2000.

“A culture of life is definitely being embraced in Ohio. Even the most strident abortion advocates would agree that fewer abortions is a good thing,” said Mike Gonidakis, president of Ohio Right to Life. “There is great news in this report.”

The report, which is required by state law, collects information from confidential reports from women who terminate their pregnancies.

The stats indicate that women who are young, single, uneducated and already mothers are most likely to choose abortion. The report shows that 84.4 percent of the abortions were performed at less than 13 weeks into the pregnancy, 83 percent of the women were unmarried, 51.1 percent of the women were younger than 25-years-old, 62.6 percent of them had a twelfth grade education or less, 61.5 percent already had one or more children, and 39 percent were African-American. And 57 percent of the women terminating their pregnancies last year had already had one or more abortions in their lifetimes, the report said.

Kellie Copeland, executive director of NARAL Pro-Choice Ohio said, state leaders should focus on reducing the number of unintended pregnancies by adopting policies and programs to improve access to contraceptives and deliver comprehensive sex education to young Ohioans. “Our goal is to reduce unintended pregnancies and therefore the need for abortions,” she said.

Ohio adopted a number of new restrictions on abortions since 2011: a ban on abortions after 20 weeks gestation if a doctor deems the fetus viable, stronger parental consent requirements for minors seeking to terminate pregnancies, public hospitals are prohibited from performing abortions, and health care plans for local government employees may not cover abortions.

This year, lawmakers considered a legislative amendment that would have essentially put Planned Parenthood Affiliates of Ohio at the back of the line for federal pass-through grants — the amendment was withdrawn. And still pending in the Ohio Senate is the “heartbeat bill,” which would ban abortion once a heartbeat can be detected, which is often before the woman realizes she is pregnant.

The controversial heartbeat bill has split the anti-abortion community over questions of its constitutionality.

Copeland said a comprehensive sex education bill re-introduced in the General Assembly last year has languished without a single hearing while the anti-abortion bills have received more than 20 hearings. “They’ve had the time; they’re just not interested,” Copeland said.