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Friday, 19 April 2024

Wednesday, 05 July 2006 09:37

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Abortion rates at record high

Statistics by the Department of Health reveal that abortions in England and Wales rose by more than 700 in 2005, from 185,713 in 2004 to 186,416.

The figures also show that more than 1,000 girls under 15 had an abortion, an increase of 4.7 per cent in a year.

The figures come amid calls from a cross-party group of MPs for a rethink on the abortion time limit.

Patrick Leahy, spokesman for Student LifeNet, the pro-life group, said: "This record high number of abortions is undoubtedly due to a dramatic increase in the number of early abortions.

"For 2005, abortions under 10 weeks accounted for 66.5 per cent of the total number compared to 60.2 per cent in 2004. This is surely due to dubious Government policies aimed at making access to early abortion even easier.

"At the same time, the percentage of late abortions is rapidly declining. The number of abortions occurring over 20 weeks dropped by almost 10 per cent on last year. This reduction reflects the public's increased concern about the abortion time limit.

"The Government's refusal to allow parliamentary time on this issue is leaving them increasingly isolated and out-of-touch”.