"A Catastrophic Failure of Women and Babies": Abortion rate in England and Wales hits an all-time high
Abortion statistics released by the Department for Health this morning (Thursday 11th June) show the highest number of abortions ever recorded for English and Welsh residents.
Precious Life has described the abortion figures for 2019 as a “catastrophic failure of women and babies.” The number of abortions is at its highest since the Abortion Act came into force in April 1968.
The devastating figures show that:
- In England and Wales, there were 209,519 abortions in 2019, an increase of 3.4% from 2018.
- 1,014 women from Northern Ireland travelled to the United Kingdom to undergo and abortion
- There was an increase in repeat abortions from 78,988 in 2018 to 83,624 in 2019. 40% of women undergoing abortions had one or more previous abortions
- 126 selective abortions were performed, where a twin, triplet or more were aborted in the womb
- There were 3,183 babies aborted for having a disability in 2019. This represents a 53% increase compared to 2009
- 656 babies with Down’s syndrome were aborted in 2019
- 17 babies were aborted for having a cleft lip or palette
- 98 % of unborn children were killed under Ground C, “That the pregnancy has NOT exceeded its 24th week and that the continuance of the pregnancy would involve risk, greater than if the pregnancy were terminated, of injury to the physical or mental health of the pregnant woman”. 99.9% of these were reported as being performed because of an unspecified risk to the woman’s mental health.
The Department of Health also revealed that the number of NHS funded abortions performed by private abortion providers reached all-time high of 153,601. The number of NHS funded abortions represents 74% of all abortions performed, up from 72% the previous year.
It also represents a shocking 255% increase since 1999 when there were 43,266 abortions carried out by private providers.
In response to the figures, Founder and Director of Precious Life, Bernadette Smyth said: “The latest abortion figures represent a catastrophic failure of women and their children. It is a tragedy hard to comprehend that 209,519 precious, unique and unrepeatable human beings were killed in England and Wales alone in the last year. Every single baby killed represents a tragic failure of our society to protect the lives of children in the womb and a failure of our society to offer compassionate, genuine and practical support to women facing unintended pregnancies.”
“The consensus in Northern Ireland is clear; people do not want to see the same permissive and cruel abortion laws which have resulted in such a tragic loss of human life in England and Wales. Thanks to the long-standing protection afforded to children in Northern Ireland for many years, thousands of lives have been saved, and thousands women have been spared the pain of post-abortion regret.
Precious Life will continue to offer resources and support to women in unintended pregnancies, and we will accelerate our campaign to repeal the inhumane and extreme abortion regime so that we can be in that position once again.”
Ms Smyth continued, “Polling in the UK shows that a majority of women there support changes to the current UK law on abortion. Com Res polling has indicated that 70% of women want the 24-week limit reduced and 91% of women in the UK want to ban sex-selective abortion.”
“What we have seen by abortion campaigners, however, is Northern Ireland being used as a Trojan horse to try and introduce abortion up to birth across the whole of the UK. Rather than listening to the growing unease and opposition to the UK’s abortion laws, campaigners and many politicians are trying to strip away every ounce of protection for unborn children which would likely see these numbers getting even worse.
Need for Change
“In light of today’s statistics, we are calling on the UK Government and the Stormont Executive to urgently increase support for women with unintended pregnancies, and to take action to save lives. The same UK Government so seemingly concerned with ‘saving lives’ during the coronavirus lockdown has sanctioned, incentivised and funded the deliberate killing of 209,519 children in the womb in 2019. The UK Government must be called out on its breath-taking hypocrisy when it comes to protecting the lives of children in the womb.
“With Stormont back up and running, it is now imperative that the Department of Health invest massive funding in crisis pregnancy resource centres to make sure that women are given real help and all of their options.
Currently, there is absolutely no government funding for pregnancy resource centres in Northern Ireland despite these figures reaffirming that there is a desperate need for such funding. Surely in the year 2020, we can offer compassionate, humane and progressive options for women as opposed to offering them the death of their baby. It is time to work together as a society to reduce the tragic numbers of babies killed in abortions every year, and to put an end to the greatest human rights injustice of today.”