Abortion facts
Chapter
1
ISSUES
: Abortion
Chapter 1: Abortion facts
1
Statistics on abortion
A note from the House of Commons Library.
T
his Note presents statistics
on abortion in England &
Wales, as well as Scotland.
Numbers of abortions and rates
per 1,000 women aged 15–44 are
provided and a brief time series is
presented. The period of gestation
when the abortion took place is also
considered as well as the method of
abortion.
Current legislation
Abortion is the commonly used term
for the termination of an established
pregnancy.
The Abortion Act 1967 came into
effect on 27 April 1968, permitting
abortion in Great Britain (not
including Northern Ireland) by
registered practitioners subject to
certain conditions. Section 37 of the
Human Fertilisation and Embryology
Act (1990) made changes to the
Abortion Act. It introduced a time
limit of 24 weeks for grounds C and
D. Grounds A, B and E are now
without limit. Before this change,
a 28- week limit had applied for all
grounds.
Grounds for permitting abortions
under the current UK legislation
A legally induced abortion must be
certified by two registered medical
practitioners as justified under one
or more of the following grounds:
A. The continuance of the pregnancy
would involve risk to the life of the
pregnant woman greater than if
the pregnancy were terminated
(Abortion Act, 1967 as amended,
section 1(1)(c))
B. The termination is necessary to
prevent grave permanent injury to
the physical or mental health of the
pregnant woman (section 1(1)(b)).
C. The pregnancy has not exceeded
its 24
th
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 (section 1(1)(a)).
D. The pregnancy has not exceeded
its 24
th
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 any existing
children of the family of the pregnant
woman (section 1(1)(a)).
E. There is substantial risk that if
the child were born it would suffer
from such physical or mental
abnormalities as to be seriously
handicapped (section 1(1)(d)). Or in
the case of an emergency, certified
by the operating practitioner as
immediately necessary:
F. To save the life of the pregnant
woman (section 1(4)).
G. To prevent grave permanent injury
to the physical or mental health of
the pregnant woman (section 1(4)).
Figures for England and
Wales
There were 190,092 abortions
notified as taking place in England
and Wales in 2014. 0.4% fewer than
in 2013.
Of these, 184,571 abortions were
to residents of England and Wales,
representing an age-standardised
rate of 15.9 abortions per 1,000
resident women aged 15–44 years.
Over the past 50 years, the age
standardised abortion rate increased
from 10.8 in 1974 to a peak of 17.9 in
2007. The rate fell to 17.5 in 2008 and
to 16.9 in 2009 where it remained
before falling again over the past
two years to the current rate of 15.9
in 2014.
Age, marital status and ethnicity
The crude abortion rate in 2014 was
highest at 28.0 per 1,000 for women
aged 20–24. The under-16 abortion
rate was 2.5 per 1,000 women and
the under-18 rate was 11.1 per 1,000
women, both lower than in 2013.
The rates for younger age groups
in 2014 were lower than in 2013,
most markedly for the under-18 age
groups.
81% of abortions in 2014 were
carried out for single women – of
which 26% were single without a
partner and 52% with a partner (3%
did not state whether they had a
partner), a proportion that has been
rising from about two thirds since
1997.
The recording of ethnicity, as self-
reported by the women involved,
was introduced in 2002. In 2014,
among women with ethnicity
recorded, 77% of those having an
abortion were White, 9% Asian or
Asian British and 8% Black or Black
British.
Gestation period
The majority of abortions (92% in
2014) are performed at or under
13 weeks gestation. In 2014, 80%
were at or under ten weeks and a
further 12% at ten to 12 weeks. The
proportion of abortions at under ten
weeks has increased since 1997,
and the proportion at over 13 weeks
has reduced.
Abortions where gestation has
exceeded its 20
th
week account for
2% of the total. There were 2,769
such abortions in 2014.
