England & Wales 2010 – Analysis of Abortion Data
The National Statistics Annual Report (compiled by the British Department of Health and published on 24th May 2010), gives full information on abortions carried out in clinics in England and Wales, including those carried out on women normally resident in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland.
From the statistics for 2010, the latest data emerges:
· There were 196,100 abortions (195,743 in 2009) of which 189,574 (189.100 in 2009) were on residents of England & Wales (26.2% of live-births compared with 26.8% in 2009) or a rate of 17.5 per 1,000 women aged 15-44 annually,
· In 2010, 77% of residents having abortions were single, 15% married, 3% divorced, widowed or separated. and 5% unstated. In 2010, 6535 abortions (6,643 in 2009) were carried out on non-residents of which 1,101 (4.5% of live-births) were on residents of Northern Ireland and 4,402 (5.95% of live-births) were on residents of the Republic. Both rates are much lower than the English rate; abortions on Northern Irish women are understated as abortions carried out in NI itself are excluded.
· Of the 196,100 abortions, none were carried out solely on grounds F or G alone (to save the life or prevent grave permanent injury to the mental or physical health of the mother).
· Of the residents of England & Wales, approximately 4% attended private clinics and 96% NHS hospitals or agencies. Almost all non-residents attended private clinics.
· Among residents of England & Wales, there were 3,718 abortions on children under 16, 12,742 on children aged 16-17, 21,809 on girls of 18-19. All told, there were 38,269 abortions in girls under 20.
· There were 1,042 abortions on children under 15, of which 136 were under 14 and 906 aged 14.
· 50% of English & Welsh residents aborting in 2010 had previous live or still-born children.
· In England & Wales 91% of abortions were performed under 13 weeks gestation and only 1% over 20 weeks. 85% of women from the Republic and 87% from NI had abortions under 13 weeks gestation. 109 women from the Republic had abortions at 20 weeks and over and 15 from Northern Ireland.
· 2,290 babies were aborted because of suspected foetal abnormalities.
· 73% of abortions were on white babies and 27% on non-white baby (black,Asian and mixed races). Non-white babies are over-represented in the abortion figures,
· The data does not indicate if any abortions led to deaths in 2010; post-abortion complications on residents of England and Wales were 287, a rate of 2.0/1,000 abortions overall, with 1.0/1000 for surgical and 2.0/1000 (double the rate) for chemical abortions. Complications are reported only if they are noted at time of discharge. No data was given for complications with non-residents abortions in 2010.
· The total number of abortions on residents in 2010 increased by 474 over 2009 and the rate remained at 17.5 per 1,000 resident women aged 15-44; the 2007 rate was the highest ever recorded in England & Wales both numerically and proportionally. In 2010, abortions were performed on 38,269 teenagers (6.01% of live-births). In comparison, teenage abortions from the Republic were 459 (0.65% live-births) and 163 (077% live-births) in Northern Ireland.
For 2010 data on Repeat abortions on women & girls in England and Wales click here
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