Mary Margaret Olohan on June 13, 2019
Abortions in England and Wales surged in 2018, with 200,608 residents undergoing the procedure, according to the Department of Health and Social Care.
The department released 2018 Abortion Statistics that revealed increases in abortions for women aged 15 to 44.
“There were 200,608 abortions for women resident in England and Wales in 2018 and 205,295 abortions including non-residents,” the statistics report stated. “The figure for women resident[s] in England and Wales is an increase of 4% since 2017 and the highest number recorded.”
Non-residents, traveling largely from Ireland, added to a total number of 205,295 abortions performed in 2018.
The numbers reveal that 2% of the abortions were performed because the baby was expected to have a severe handicap. They also reveal that 39% of these women had already had at least one abortion.
The department reported there was a 4% increase in abortions in the past year in England and Wales. For residents, the abortion rate increased since 2017 from 16.7 women who had abortions per 1,000 women. The number of non-residents in England and Wales who had abortions also increased.
Ninety-eight percent of these abortions were funded by the National Health Service, a percentage that has remained the same since 2013, and nine out of 10 of these abortions were performed when the unborn baby was under 13 weeks. This number has remained constant since 2008.
The report also revealed women in Northern Ireland had 1,053 abortions, a number that is an increase of 192 from 2017.
Follow Mary Margaret on Twitter.
