Abortions in U.S. reach lowest level since 1973

• The latest data, calculated with Census information from July 2016 to July 2017, is only a minor drop from 2016's abortion rate, the institute notes.
• A likely factor for the decline is increased accessibility of contraception under the Affordable Care Act, which required most private health insurance plans to cover contraceptives without out-of-pocket costs.

What they found: Abortion rates declined the most from 2014-2017 in Delaware, Arkansas, West Virginia, Alabama and Virginia, according to the institute. The West saw the steepest abortion rate drop of any U.S. region.

• Virginia requires minors to take more steps to obtain an abortion than any other state, according to an Axios analysis of Guttmacher data.
• Adults are also required to take more steps in Virginia to obtain an abortion than anywhere else in the U.S.

The other side: Abortion rates increased the most from 2014-2017 in Mississippi, New Jersey, Minnesota, Georgia, Maryland and Wisconsin, according to the institute.

• Mississippi and Wisconsin are among 7 states where adults are required to take more steps to obtain an abortion than anywhere else in the U.S.
• New Jersey is among 12 states — and D.C. — where adults and minors can obtain an abortion through the fewest steps.

By the numbers: Even though 400 state laws restricting abortion access were passed between 2011 and 2017, the majority of the decline happened in states that didn't pass any new restrictions, the AP reports.

• People who are having abortions are increasingly using medication over surgery. The "abortion pill" accounted for 39% of abortions in 2017.

Background: "They [Guttmacher Institute] are the best source for information to understand national trends, as well as state-level trends, for what's happening on the ground in abortion care," said Alina Salganicoff, senior vice president and director of women's health policy at the Kaiser Family Foundation.

Go deeper ... Where abortion restrictions stand: The states that have passed laws

Editor's note: This article has been updated with more details on the Guttmacher report.

• "After nearly a month of stonewalling, it appears clear that the President has chosen the path of defiance, obstruction, and cover-up," the letter reads.

The state of play: Several White House officials have told Axios' Alayna Treene that the administration has no plans of complying with the committees' demands for interviews or documents without a full House vote formally approving an impeachment inquiry.

The big picture: The Trump administration's initial refusal to turn over the whistleblower complaint on the president's interactions with Ukraine is what led House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to finally support a formal impeachment inquiry.

Go deeper: Trump letter dares Pelosi to hold vote on impeachment inquiry

• Johnson asked the Justice Department earlier this week to look into links between Ukraine and Hillary Clinton's 2016 presidential campaign. His letter questioned the narrative that Biden's actions in Ukraine had nothing to do with his son's connection.
• However, it was also discovered that he signed onto a 2016 letter that mirrored Biden's work to reform Ukraine's prosecutor general and judiciary.
• There is no evidence that Biden's reform work in Ukraine was to protect his son's business dealings, as the president and some of his allies allege, or that he committed any form of corruption.

The state of play: Sondland, a Trump political appointee who donated $1 million to the president's inaugural committee, denied that there was a quid pro quo between the Trump administration and Ukraine's government in a series of text messages that former Ukraine special envoy Kurt Volker provided to a group of House committees investigating the Trump-Ukraine matter.

• "I think it’s crazy to withhold security assistance for help with a political campaign," Bill Taylor, the top U.S. diplomat to Ukraine, texted Sondland.
• Sondland texted back: "Bill, I believe you are incorrect about President Trump's intentions. The President has been crystal clear no quid pro quo's of any kind."
• The New York Times reported that Sondland's response came only after he spoke to the president.

Go deeper: House committees release texts from former Ukraine envoy Kurt Volker