Number Of Abortions In England And Wales Hit Record High In 2022

The number of abortions successful England and Wales reached a grounds precocious successful 2022, pinch a starring supplier stating that women are facing “significant barriers” successful entree to contraception.

Almost 3 successful 10 conceptions ended successful ineligible abortions successful nan 2 nations successful 2022, up from astir 2 successful 10 a decade earlier, according to caller figures from nan Office for National Statistics (ONS).

The percent of conceptions starring to ineligible abortion – which has been expanding for each property groups since 2015 – was 29.7% successful 2022, up from 26.5% a twelvemonth earlier and 20.8% successful 2012. There were 247,703 conceptions starring to a ineligible abortion successful 2022, a 13.1% emergence connected nan 218,923 recorded successful 2021.

Separate authorities figures relating to 2022 that were published past year showed nan number of abortions for women surviving successful England and Wales had risen by almost a 5th successful a year. There were 251,377 abortions for women resident successful nan 2 nations successful 2022, according to figures from nan Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), which was nan highest since nan Abortion Act was introduced almost 60 years agone and a emergence of 17% connected nan 2021 figure.

Katherine O’Brien, from nan British Pregnancy Advisory Services (Bpas), said women were struggling to entree contraception arsenic good arsenic facing expanding financial pressures because of nan costs of surviving crisis.

“Women are facing important barriers erstwhile trying to entree contraception, including agelong hold times and difficulties securing appointments,” she said. “At Bpas, we regularly perceive from women who are seeking an abortion aft falling pregnant while waiting for repetition pill prescriptions aliases coil insertions.”

A Bpas report past twelvemonth recovered that 49% of women successful nan UK faced barriers to contraception, pinch agelong hold times posing a peculiar difficulty.

O’Brien added that liking complaint hikes and increases successful nan costs of surviving successful 2022 mightiness besides person forced couples to make “sometimes reliable decisions astir continuing aliases ending a pregnancy”.

“No female should person to extremity a gestation she would different person continued purely for financial reasons, and nary female should go pregnant because our healthcare strategy is failing to supply women pinch nan contraception they want, erstwhile they request it,” she said.

The ONS figures show that girls nether 16 remained nan property group pinch nan highest percent of conceptions starring to abortion, astatine 61.0%, while women aged betwixt 30 and 34 years aged had nan lowest percent of conceptions starring to abortion successful 2022, astatine astir a fifth, aliases 20.5%.

Women successful their early 30s were nan property group pinch nan highest number of conceptions, astatine 249,991. Women aged complete 40 had a conception complaint of 17.2 per 1,000 women successful 2022, somewhat beneath nan grounds precocious of 17.3 per 1,000 women successful 2021, according to nan ONS.

O’Brien called connected nan authorities to reclassify emergency contraception to alteration it to beryllium sold successful much places.

“Emergency contraception, while not a metallic slug to unplanned gestation rates, remains an underutilised assets successful this country, pinch nan mostly of women not accessing this captious back-up method aft an section of unprotected sex,” she said.

“The authorities has committed to improving entree via pharmacies, but we request to spot this medicine reclassified truthful that it tin beryllium sold successful a wider scope of outlets, including supermarkets, truthful that women tin entree it arsenic swiftly arsenic imaginable erstwhile needed.”