Deprived areas show highest figures as Scotland’s abortion rate sees rise

● Increase in over-30s having procedure ‘could be due to fertility assumptions’

More older women are having abortions in Scotland, with the overall number of terminations at a ten-year high.

Figures show that 13,286 women aged 15 to 44 had abortions last year, a rate of 12.9 per 1,000, against 12.4 per 1,000 in 2009.

The NHS Scotland Information Services Division report said the factors behind the recent increase were “not yet exactly clear”.

The figures also showed rates for women in the most deprived areas remain about twice as high as those from the least deprived areas, at 17.8 per 1,000 women aged 15-44 compared with 8.9 per 1,000.

Katherine O’brien, spokeswoman for the British Pregnancy Advisory Service charity, said that while abortion rates for younger women were falling, with under-20s down 49 per cent between 2007 and 2018, the rate for women aged 30 to 39 has risen by more than 10 per cent in the past year.

She said: “We are concerned that constant warnings about the impact of age on fertility are leading some older women to take chances with their contraception under the misconception that they are unlikely to conceive.

“We need to ensure that the reproductive healthcare needs of all women are met and that the drive to decrease teenage pregnancies is not at the expense of their older counterparts.”

Also included in the st atistics for the first time were the number of women from Northern Ireland–where abortion is illegal except in strict circumstances to save the life of them other–accessing abortions on Scotland’ s NHS. These figures have been recorded following a change in the law in 2017 so that women from Northern Ireland can access an abortion free through the NHS in Scotland. Researchers said the change “appears to have had very little impact ”.

Fewer than ten women having terminations in Scotland gave a Northern Ireland residence address in 2018.

For the first time, the figures also included the number of women taking a drug to induce the second part of a two-stage medical abortion process at home after taking the first drug in a clinic. Almost a third (30 per cent) of terminations were performed in this manner. Scotland’s Chief Medical Officer recommended the procedural change in 2017.

Ms O’brien said the abortion rate in Scotland for 2018 was not “markedly higher” than the 12.4 per 1,000 in 2009 and remained lower than that of England and Wales.

Michael Robinson, from anti-abortion group the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children Scotland, said the statistics were “deeply alarming”, adding: “The right to life must be defended for every person.”