New York Archbishop Timothy Dolan recently called on religious leaders work towards lowering the city's abortion rate.

According to a 2009 New York City Health Department report, 41 percent of all pregnancies there end in abortion --twice the national average.

Dolan said he realizes it's unlikely they will be able to end the practice all together. Instead, he said his current goal is to make the practice a rarity in the Big Apple.

"I re-affirm Cardinal John O'Connor's promise of a quarter-century ago that every woman facing a difficult pregnancy will be provided with free, confidential help of the highest quality from the Archdiocese of New York," Archbishop Dolan said.

"We are prepared to do everything in our power to help you and your unborn baby to make absolutely certain that you need never feel that you have no choice but an abortion," he vowed.