Women in their 30s behind first rise in abortion for six years

THE number of abortions in England and Wales is rising for the first time in six years, pushed up by a surge in terminations for older women.

More than a third last year were carried out for women over 30, and there were nearly three times as many abortions among over-30s as there were for teenagers.

Teenage abortion numbers have plunged alongside the rapid drop in teen pregnancies over the past decade.

But the increase in abortion levels among older women points to growing pressure on a generation of women over careers, later motherhood, and the spread of sometimes unstable cohabiting relationships.

The figures from the Department of Health and Social Care showed there were 194,688 abortions in England and Wales last year, including 4,809 for women from overseas, mainly Ireland and Northern Ireland. The number was up by 2.3 per cent on the previous year, and marked an end to six years of general decline.

The figures mean more than one in five of pregnancies in England and Wales end in a termination. They showed that 16.5 abortions were carried out for every 1,000 women aged between 15 and 44.

Among younger women, abortion rates have fallen sharply. There were nearly 44,000 for teenagers in 2007, a time when teen pregnancy figures were running high and abortion was widely considered to have become an alternative means of contraception for the young. Last year that number had nearly halved to 23,607. Falling teenage abortion rates have come alongside lower levels of drinking, drugtaking and smoking among the young, and have been linked with the rise of social media and changing attitudes to sex.

But among older women abortion levels have been increasing dramatically. There were 67,389 abortions for women of 30 and over last year, compared with 55,877 in 2007 – an increase of more than 20 per cent. Among women aged 30 to 34, abortion rates have risen from 15.1 to 18.2 for every 1,000 women.

Some 47 per cent of women over 30 who had an abortion last year were on a second or further termination. There were 1,049 women who had their fifth abortion last year, more than half of them aged over 30, and 72 women had their ninth abortion.

However there were only 1,300 abortions for girls under 16, fewer than a third of numbers a decade ago. Nola Leach of the charity Christian Action, Research and Education said: ‘Every abortion is a tragedy. The increase in the overall numbers is heartbreaking and the increase in abortions of women between the ages of 30 and 34 raises questions about how the pressures of modern life arising from the instability of cohabitation and the pressure for couple families to be sustained by two rather than one income are extracting a very high price.’

Clare Murphy of the British Pregnancy Advisory Service, one of the country’s biggest abortion providers, said: ‘Contraceptive services for older women are not always as accessible as those for younger ones, and older women are often told their fertility drops off a cliff when they hit 35, so they may be less careful.

‘Many of these women may have completed their families, or may not be in the position to support a subsequent child if they experience an unwanted pregnancy.’