TOPEKA– The state health department says the number of births and abortions declined last year in Kansas.

Kansas Department of Health and Environment says in its annual vital statistics report that the number of abortions declined 4.6 percent from 2010 to 2011. That continued a trend of declining abortions that began in 1996.

The Wichita Eagle reported Thursday that KDHE says 88 percent of the abortions occurred within the first 13 weeks of pregnancy, and more than 85 percent were to unmarried women.

At the same time, the number of births dropped to 13.8 live births per 1,000 residents, the lowest number recorded since the state started tracking births in 1912.

There were 39,628 babies born in 2011 in Kansas, compared with 40,439 in 2010.