ISSUES
: Abortion
Chapter 1: Abortion facts
10
England and Wales abortion rate is
stable, more than half of women ending
pregnancies are already mothers
T
he abortion rate for England
and Wales was 15.9 per
1,000 women aged 15–44 in
2014. Rates fell slightly among all
age groups under 25, and remained
stable or rose marginally among
women over 25. 56% of abortions in
England and Wales were performed
on women over the age of 25 in
2014.
More than half (54%) of women
ending pregnancies had already
given birth, up from 47% a decade
ago.
The vast majority of abortions
are performed at under 13 weeks
(92% in 2014), with a continuing
increase in the proportion carried
out under ten weeks. Access to
Early Medical Abortion, where pills
are taken to induce a miscarriage,
has played an important role in the
numbers of women able to access
early procedures. A small number
of women will need access to
services after 20 weeks (2%) due
to later detection of pregnancy,
dramatic changes in personal
circumstances, or because a
problem has been diagnosed with
a wanted pregnancy.
The repeat abortion rate remains
stable, with 37% of all abortions
provided to women who have had
a previous procedure. This rate is in
keeping with those in comparable
developed countries such as
France and Sweden. Given that
women are fertile for more than 30
years, it is unsurprising that women
may experience an unplanned
pregnancy or a pregnancy they
cannot carry to term on more than
one occasion.
Muchworkhasbeendone to improve
contraceptive services for younger
women, and it is important to
ensure older women have the same
access to convenient, high-quality
services. The British Pregnancy
Advisory Services believes more in
particular could be done to support
women’s contraceptive needs in the
postnatal period, as we regularly
see women experiencing unwanted
pregnancy in the period after giving
birth.
bpas chief executive Ann Furedi
said:
“No form of contraception is 100%
effective, and women will always
need straightforward access to
abortion services as a back-up
if they are to plan their lives and
families in the way they see fit.
Having done so much to improve
contraceptive services for younger
women, we must also ensure the
needs of older women are met.
“One in three women will have
an abortion in her lifetime. It is
a fundamental part of women’s
reproductive healthcare, as these
statistics demonstrate. It makes no
sense that abortion remains within
the criminal law in this country,
and that women still the need
authorisation of two doctors before
they can end their own pregnancy.
It also remains a travesty that in
2015, women from Northern Ireland
are unable to access the care they
need at home. The time really has
come to decriminalise abortion
across the UK and regulate it like
every other women’s healthcare
procedure.”
9 June 2015
Ö
The above information is
reprinted with kind permission
from bpas. Please visit www.
bpas.org for further information.
© bpas 2016
