Level of abortions reaches record high of 200,000 a year

By Kat Kanning
Daily Mail
Jun. 20, 2007

More than 200,000 women had abortions last year - the highest number ever, new figures show today.

The number of abortions rose by almost four per cent in 2006 compared with the previous year as terminations become easier to obtain.

A total of 201,173 abortions were carried out in England and Wales last year and almost 4,000 of them were for girls under 16, the legal age of consent for sex.

The abortion rate has been rising steadily since 2002 and last year almost two per cent of women aged between 15 and 44 had a termination.

The figures released by the Department of Health today show more abortions are being carried out earlier in the pregnancy reflecting government investment and the target of a maximum wait of three weeks.

A higher proportion are also using medication instead of surgery.

One in 12 terminations was carried out at more than 13 weeks' gestation and 136 procedures were carried out when the foetus was at 24 weeks or older.

Abortions at more than 24 weeks are allowed only if there is a substantial risk the child would be born with serious handicap or the mother's life was in danger.

The peak age for terminations was 19, with 35 in every 1,000 women aged 19 undergoing the procedure last year.

Health Minister Caroline Flint said: "We welcome the fact that a higher percentage of abortions are taking place at an early stage - almost two-thirds under 10 weeks gestation and most under 13 weeks.

"It is important that women have early access to abortion services as the earlier the abortion, the lower the risk of complications. We have invested £8 million to improve early access and set a standard of a maximum waiting time of three weeks.

"PCTs' performance in this area is also being measured as part of their NHS performance ratings.

"However, the NHS needs to work harder to reduce the demand for abortions by improving access to contraception.

"PCTs have received an extra £40 million (2006/08) to improve access to contraceptive services - part of the extra investment for sexual health announced in our Public Health White Paper.

"In addition, we are producing best practice guidance on reproductive healthcare for commissioners and providers and for the first time, PCTs' performance will also be measured in this area."

It was announced last month that the number of abortions in Scotland is rising.

There were 13,081 therapeutic abortions performed in 2006, compared with 12,603 the previous year, according to the Scottish health statistics.

Ann Furedi, chief executive of the British Pregnancy Advisory Service, which provides contraception and abortion services, said: "A rise in numbers of this scale does not surprise us, as BPAS's doctors saw around 55,000 women for abortion care in 2006.

"We also know that conceptions are up overall in England and Wales.

"There are many reasons why women seek to end a pregnancy. Increasingly, women expect to be able to plan their families, and they cannot do this through contraception alone.

"Contraception sometimes fails and sometimes we fail to use it properly. Women will always need the option of abortion if their usual birth control has let them down.

"We also know that social attitudes are changing with respect to abortion.

"Becoming a parent is increasingly viewed as a significant social responsibility and although abortion can be a difficult choice, we know that increasingly society is more understanding of the compelling reasons why a woman may need to end a pregnancy.

"A rise in the number of abortions is not the problem in itself - the real problem is the number of women experiencing unintended pregnancy.

"For some of these, abortion will be the solution to the very serious problem of being faced with an unplanned, unwanted pregnancy."