The Department of Health yesterday released the total number of notifications received in 2022 of abortions carried out. This shows that there were at least 8,156 abortions last year in the Republic of Ireland – the highest number of notifications yet on record.
Last year, the Department of Health acknowledged there was a discrepancy with the 2021 figures, with the number of notifications (4,577) contrasting with the number of payments made to doctors for performing abortions (approximately 6,700). This was blamed on Covid-19 and the HSE cyber-attack. However, the same trend of babies being aborted without being notified to the Department of Health could well have occurred in 2022, as a parliamentary question reply to Deputy Carol Nolan showed there were 8,876 claims paid in 2022 to doctors. This may indicate the true abortion rate is closer to 9,000 in 2022.
Also yesterday, the abortion numbers for the first six months of 2022 for England and Wales were released by the Department of Health and Social Care. The number of abortions during that time was 123,219, which according to Right To Life UK is an increase of 17,731 abortions (17%) on the same six months of 2021.
It’s clear that pro-lifers in both jurisdictions must ask their politicians to take pro-active steps to help women in unplanned pregnancy, support positive alternatives to abortion and address the massive abortion rates.
