The number of abortions has risen to more than 8 million in Great Britain since the practice was legalised, according to the latest Department of Health statistics for 2013.
MPs have criticised the way abortion is increasingly used as a form of ‘contraception’, as the new figures also show more than a third, 37 per cent, of abortions for resident women were repeat abortions.
In total, there were 190,800 abortions in England and Wales last year.
Contraception
In 2012, 33 women were found to have had at least their ninth abortion, compared to 49 last year.
Responding to the statistics, Labour MP Jim Dobbin said: “Why, in a country which apparently abhors abortion being used as a method of contraception, do the figures for repeat abortions keep rising?”
“The UK is a rogue state when it comes to abortion.”
Limit
“Our abortion time limit is double that of nearly every other member of the EU. They are all around 12 weeks but we still allow abortion six months in to a pregnancy”, he added.
By 2012, there had been 7,918,241 abortions in England, Wales and Scotland since 1968 when the Abortion Act came into force, rising to 8,120,818 by 2013.
Conservative MP Fiona Bruce commented, “these figures show a concerning and increasing trend of abortion sadly being used as a lifestyle choice or as a substitute for contraception.
Advice
“Better counselling and advice is needed for women as to the alternatives to abortion available in order to reduce multiple abortions and the potential negative effects upon the women themselves.”
Mrs Bruce is the head of an all-party group on abortion on disability grounds.
She said: “2,732 babies were not allowed to live in 2012/13 purely because they were disabled. This kind of practice does not belong in the 21st century. Disabled people are equal and we should not have special laws to prevent them from being born.”
However, Ann Furedi, chief executive of the British Pregnancy Advisory Service, the UK’s largest abortion provider, said: “We should stop politicising abortion and accept that it is a standard part of women’s healthcare.”