36% Drop in Number of Women Travelling from Northern Ireland to England and Wales for Abortion
The Westminster Department of Health released its report on abortion statistics in England and Wales for 2015 yesterday. Statistics revealed that 833 women travelled from Northern Ireland to England and Wales to have an abortion.
In ten years, from 2006 to 2015, there has been a 36% drop in the number of women travelling from Northern Ireland to England and Wales to have an abortion. Similarly, in ten years there has been a 32% decrease in the number of women travelling from the Republic of Ireland to England and Wales for abortion.
Bernadette Smyth, the director of Precious Life, commented on these results:
“The steady decrease in the number of women travelling to England and Wales for abortion over the past ten years is encouraging, as it is a sign that more and more women are choosing life for their babies, thanks to the committed prayer presence outside abortion referral centres, pro-life educational outreaches in towns and cities and the care and support available at pregnancy resource centres across Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.
“But more work needs to be done. ‘833’ is not just a number on a statistical table, to be looked at and then forgotten about. 833 women felt they had no choice but to have an abortion and were driven to make the worst decision of their lives. 833 unborn children didn’t see the light of day. More needs to be done to help women in such desperate situations.
“There is a great need for churches and the Department of Health in Northern Ireland to support pregnancy resource centres like Stanton Healthcare Belfast and to help promote the wonderful services these centres have to offer.
“Stanton Healthcare Belfast offers life-affirming advice, maternity and baby supplies, practical assistance, and referrals for any other resources or services mothers may need, including legal advice, help with finding a home, adoption services, and also post-abortion support. All our services are provided at no charge.”
Of the 185,824 abortions carried out on women resident in England and Wales in 2015, there were complications reported in 294 cases. Most disturbingly, one woman is reported to have died after an abortion.
Bernadette Smyth continued:
“The reported 294 cases of ‘complications’ and the disturbing revelation that one woman lost her life after an abortion in England and Wales in 2015 substantiates Byron Calhoun’s, John Thorp’s and Patrick Carroll’s findings in 2012 that maternal health in England and Wales, with its higherrates of all morbidities and mortality associated with legalised abortion, continues to lag behind maternal health in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.
“Unlike the rest of the United Kingdom, our pro-life laws protect both mother and child, and these latest statistics should be a glaring reminder to politicians in the Northern Ireland Assembly why they must defend and uphold our pro-life laws.”