A record 252,122 abortions were recorded in England and Wales in 2022, and Britain’s cost of living crisis is to blame, according to charities.
This figure is approximately 17 percent higher than the previous year, another record since the Abortion Law was introduced in the 1960s.
This is equivalent to one in 50 women in England and Wales aged 15 to 44 having an abortion.
Women aged 22 were the most likely to have abortions in 2022, with almost 38 interruptions per 1,000 women, almost double the national average.
The charities said the “unprecedented” rise in pregnancies to end pregnancy terminations was due to the cost of living making it unaffordable for many women to have a child.
Heidi Stewart, chief executive of the British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS), which offers abortion services, said: “No woman should be forced to terminate a pregnancy that would otherwise have continued for purely financial reasons.”
A record 252,122 abortions were recorded in England and Wales in 2022, blamed on the cost of living crisis in Britain, according to charities.
‘The stories that women have shared with us are heartbreaking. The cost of living crisis has put immense pressure on women and families, with many having to choose between financial stability and having a baby.
“With the second highest costs of child care in the developed world, whichever party is elected on July 4 must prioritize reducing the cost of living and making child care more affordable.”
She added that another reason was long NHS waits for contraceptive appointments, which meant women became pregnant unintentionally, leaving abortion their only option.
“No woman should become pregnant because health care services do not provide them with the contraception they want and need, when they need it,” she said.
Official abortion data, published by the Department of Health and Social Care, also recorded that 82 per cent of women who had abortions were single, a figure that has remained constant over the past decade.
Women in the Northwest had the highest abortion rate, with 24.2 terminations per 1,000 women.
By contrast, the southwest has the lowest rate with 17.6 abortions per 1,000 women.
The vast majority, 88 percent, of abortions performed in 2022 were performed before 10 weeks.
These terminations can be carried out at home using medication and have become an increasingly common way of terminating a pregnancy in the UK – 61 per cent of terminations are carried out this way, according to Government data.
This represents an increase of 9 percentage points compared to the previous year’s figure.
Current rules mean pregnant women can legally request an abortion in the UK up to 24 weeks into their pregnancy, but it is up to doctors whether it is granted.
Under the Abortion Act of 1967, termination of pregnancy is granted for reasons of physical or mental health, as well as for financial reasons, such as the inability to afford the care of a child.
In the UK there is no access to abortion on demand. A woman cannot legally terminate a pregnancy without cause, she must be right.
Abortions can still be legally performed after the 24-week limit, but only in very strict circumstances.
These include if the mother’s life is at risk due to the pregnancy or if the child would be born with a serious disability.
Abortions performed after 24 weeks represent a small fraction of all abortions.
The vast majority, 88 percent, of abortions performed in 2022 were performed before 10 weeks. In 2022, only 260 abortions were performed after the 24-week limit, 0.1 percent of the total.
In 2022, only 260 abortions of this type were performed, 0.1 percent of the total.
Reacting to the data, spokesperson for the anti-abortion group Right To Life UK, Catherine Robinson, called it a “national tragedy.”
“Each of these abortions represents a failure of our society to protect the lives of babies in the womb and a failure to offer full support to women with unplanned pregnancies,” she said.
“This significant increase in abortions has accompanied the second full year that abortion services outside of a clinical setting have been operating in England and Wales.”
“Ahead of the general election, we call on the next government to urgently introduce new protections for unborn children and greater support for women with unplanned pregnancies.”
Down syndrome charities also condemned the fact that 760 pregnancies in which the disability was detected at prenatal checks ended in termination.
Lynn Murray, spokesperson for the campaign group Don’t Screen Us Out and mother of a child with Down syndrome, said the figure was “deeply worrying”.
‘Despite the strides advocacy groups have made in raising awareness in support of people with Down syndrome, abortion for Down syndrome remains very common and widespread in the UK.
“In fact, we constantly hear from parents how hospital abortion was repeatedly presented to them as an obvious solution after receiving the news that their baby had Down syndrome.”
The inclusion of Down syndrome on a list of medical conditions that allow termination of pregnancy after 24 weeks of pregnancy is controversial, and there are multiple calls to prevent people from terminating pregnancies for this reason.