Quarter of pregnancies now end in abortion
MORE than one in four pregnancies now end in abortion as a result of rapidly rising numbers of terminations among older women.
The share of women who opt for abortion has passed the quarter mark for the first time, according to Office for National Statistics figures released yesterday.
The analysis shows 25.2 per cent of conceptions in England and Wales ended in abortion in 2019.
The landmark was reached after a decade of rising numbers of pregnancies among women in their late 30s and 40s who have delayed starting families, with many choosing abortions. The share of pregnancies involving teminations went up among all age groups in 2019. Suggested reasons include avoiding disruption to careers and lifestyles that follow having babies, and uncertainty among women of the reliability of their relationship with the father.
Among women in the second half of their 30s, the share of pregnancies ending in abortion has gone up by almost a third over ten years, while among teenagers the increase was just under 17 per cent.
A decade ago just over a fifth of all pregnancies ended in abortion. The ONS said: ‘The percentage of conceptions leading to a legal abortion among all women in England and Wales increased from 24 per cent in 2018 to 25.2 per cent in 2019, the second year in a row this has increased for all age groups.’ In 2019 just over a fifth of pregnancies among women aged 35 to 39 were aborted. And just over 30 per cent of pregnancies among over-40s were terminated.
Among unmarried women over 40, 37 per cent of pregnancies were aborted but only 25 per cent of pregnant married women chose a termination.
Abortion numbers have been rising steadily in recent years.
The most recent Department of Health count said there were 210,860 in England and Wales in 2020 – the highest on record.
Opponents of abortion called for measures to reduce numbers. James Mildred, of the
Christian charity CARE, said: ‘The prevalence of abortions illustrates the acute pressures of modern life and the dearth of real choice. We should be encouraging a culture of life and hope, where every woman feels equipped to become a mother, regardless of her personal circumstances.
But Clare Murphy, of the British Pregnancy Advisory Service, one of the country’s biggest abortion providers, said: ‘There are a variety of reasons why women are choosing to delay motherhood and have smaller families. These include financial instability, desire to progress at work, and the ever-increasing cost of raising a child.’