Abortion rate continues to drop in England and Wales

The latest statistics for abortion in England and Wales (2013) have been released today and can be viewed here on the Gov.UK website. Here's a summary.

For women resident in England and Wales, in 2013:

• The total number of abortions was 185,331 
• The abortion rate (for ages 15-44) was 15.9 per 1000 women, 0.8% lower than last year's abortion rate, and 4.7% lower than in 2003
• The abortion rate was highest for women aged 22
• The under-16 and under-18 abortion rates are both lower than last year, and than in 2003
• 37% of women having an abortion had had one or more previous abortions
• 53% of women having abortions had one or more previous pregnancies that resulted in a live birth or a still birth
• 91% of abortions were carried out at under 13 weeks gestation

• In 2013, there were 5,469 abortions for non-residents carried out in England and Wales. The 2013 total is the lowest in any year since 1969

So those are the numbers but what do they tell us?

Well, first of all, the abortion rate is the lowest it's been for 16 years, the 2013 stats show a continued decrease. The same is true for the rate of abortion for under 18s - this has gone down from 18.2 per 1000 women to 11.7 per 1000 women in the last ten years. This drop reflects the reduced rate of teenage conceptions in general and is likely a result of young people's increased access to contraception. The rate of women accessing abortion early on in pregnancy is a positive sign that most are able to have their pregnancy confirmed early and access abortion when it is safest.

When asked, people often assume abortion rates will be highest for teenagers, when in fact, the most common age to have an abortion was 22, and there was a slight increase in the abortion rate for women aged 25-29. Bpas suggests that that this may well reflect the increasing desire to have children later (the average age for first time motherhood in the UK is now over 28). Over half of women accessing abortion are already mothers.

In 2013, approximately 5500 abortions were performed in England and Wales for non-resident women. The majority of these women (67% and 15%) were from Ireland and Northern Ireland respectively. This shows a continuing decline in the numbers of non-resident women accessing abortion in England and Wales. The FPA suggests that this could be due to under-reporting, or women travelling to other countries for the procedure. We also suggested last year that these women may well be (illegally) finding abortion medication online, rather than travelling for the procedure, which can be very expensive.

We join the FPA in calling for Northern Irish women's right to free, safe, legal abortion in line with women in other parts of the UK, and with bpas that, "we should stop politicising abortion and accept that it is a standard part of women's healthcare."

2012 Abortion Statistics

The latest statistics on abortions carried out in England and Wales were released today. The main findings are summarised below but you can view full information (including data tables) here. This year, the Department of Health also carried out a consultation on changes to the publication of abortion statistics, the results of which can be found here.

•    The 2012 abortion rate for all ages is 16.5 per 1,000 women – the lowest rate since 1997 and 6% lower than in 2011. The abortion rate was highest for women aged 21 (31 per 1000 women).

•    The under 16 and under 18 abortion rates were slightly lower than in 2011 (3 per 1000 and 12.8 per 1000 respectively).

•    The number of abortions taking place under 13 weeks gestation remains at 91%, and 97% of abortions were funded by the NHS. The percentage of medical abortions also remains consistent, at 48% (47% in 2011).

•    In 2012, 52% of women undergoing abortions had one or more previous pregnancies that resulted in a live or stillbirth.

A significant difference from 2011’s data is the number of non-resident women accessing abortion in England and Wales:

•    In 2012, there were 5,850 abortions for non-residents versus 6151 in 2011. The 2012 total is the lowest in any year since 1969.

The majority of non-residents accessing abortion in England and Wales are from the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland (making up 83.6% of the total number of non-residents in 2012). It’s unclear as to why this figure is lower than it has ever been but it’s possible that more women in Ireland are accessing medical abortion online; rising awareness of services like Women on Web through public campaigns may mean that more Irish women are using illegal methods to end their pregnancies rather than face the cost and difficulty of travelling abroad to do so.

Another interesting statistic which deserves to be unpicked is the over-representation of certain ethnic groups in the abortion statistics, particularly with regards to those women who have more than one abortion.

As you can see from the table, women who are of Black or Mixed ethnicity are more likely to have had one or more previous abortions than women of other ethnic backgrounds. The statistics do not tell us why this is, but we might question if the information provided to particular communities on contraception and abortion is relevant and accessible. We know that there are links between ethnicity and deprivation, and between deprivation and unintended pregnancy so this too might be a factor. More research is clearly needed  into the intersections between ethnicity, unintended pregnancy and abortion, but in the meantime, it is crucial to note that women from all backgrounds can and do experience unintended pregnancy and abortion and we should not shy away from providing culturally appropriate, evidence-based information in every setting.

As a result of the consultation on the publication of abortion statistics a few changes have been made, the most significant of which being local level statistics being presented by CCG (clinical commissioning groups) rather than PCT (primary care trust) data due to the changes to the health system.

One interesting aspect of the consultation was to see the number of anti-abortion groups which had responded, a number of whom requested information on fetal sex to be represented in the abortion data. This is presumably a response to recent scaremongering suggesting that 'sex selective abortions’ were taking place in the UK (despite the Department of Health’s own 2013 report finding that the UK’s ‘gender ratio’ is "well within the normal boundaries for populations").

The response to the consultation gives a firm response to this request:

"Information about the sex of the foetus and NHS number are not currently collected on  the HSA4 form. To collect such information would require changes to the  legislation, in  particular the Abortion Regulations 1991, as well as to clinical practice. This is not in the scope of this consultation. The majority of abortions take place before 10 weeks gestation and it is not currently possible to identify a foetus’s gender at that stage. Identifying the gender of aborted foetuses over 10 weeks’ gestation raises ethical and clinical issues. The Government has no plans to introduce such a practice."

Mid-week Metro myth bust 'Teenage Abortion Rates are Rising'

A headline in the Metro today claimed that while teenage conception rates have fallen, teenage abortion rates have risen. 


It's worth reminding ourselves that two days ago when the new Under-18 teenage pregnancy statistics were announced lots of sceptics on Twitter were asking just how the papers might spin this to make it look bad and controversial and scary instead of recognising that actually teenage pregnancy rates are falling. They are the lowest they have been since 1969 which is what everybody seems to want whatever end of the political spectrum they inhabit.


Hooray, then? Teenage pregnancy rates are falling....but, in today’s Metro we were asked to temper our happiness with the sad news that actually teenage abortion rates have risen. So, is this true?


The statistics for under-18s in England and Wales (see table 6) break down the figures in several ways:

1. Conception numbers (the actual number of under-18 pregnancies)
2. The conception rate ( number of women out of 1,000 under-18 yrs who got pregnant)
3. The maternity rate (number of women out of 1,000 under-18 yrs who continued their pregnancy)
4. The abortion rate (number of women out of 1,000 under-18 yrs who ended their pregnancy)
5. The percentage of pregnancies to women under-18 yrs that ended in abortion (sometimes also known as the abortion proportion)

So what actually has happened to under-18 conception and abortion rates in England and Wales?

• Under 18 Conception numbers decreased from 41,361 (2009) to 38,259 (2010)
• The conception rate, maternity rate AND abortion rate ALL fell between 2009 and 2010 that means that fewer under 18s got pregnant, had babies or had abortions.
• The percentage of conceptions that ended in abortion (the abortion proportion) rose slightly from 48.8 to 49.9.

Clearly the Metro is mixing up its abortion 'rate' with its abortion 'proportion'.

What do the statistics tell us?

These statistics demonstrate a trend towards a decrease in teenage pregnancy overall with the rate of women continuing pregnancy to maternity falling faster than the rate of women choosing to end pregnancy in abortion. This is represented in the statistics by a small year on year increase in the abortion proportion.


For people who generally oppose abortion, an increase in the abortion proportion is obviously a cause for concern especially if it represents the growing acceptability and accessibility of abortion. However, the fact that the actual number of abortions fell should be cause for celebration.


For people who generally support the right to choose abortion an increasing abortion proportion may be seen as something that has some positives if it represents the increasing awareness of abortion as an option, and improved accessibility of services. However, pro-choice people would also celebrate the fall in the number of actual abortions because ideally everyone would prefer someone not to become pregnant in the first place if they don’t want to be, rather than have to make this decision.


What the statistics tell us about the teenage pregnancy strategy which ended in 2010 is that it succeeded in bringing about reductions in the rates, but not in achieving its huge ambition of halving the teenage pregnancy rate. It took an enormous amount of investment to make even  modest reductions. With the end of the strategy and cutbacks and reorganisation across health promotion and teenage pregnancy services it remains to be seen whether this downward trend will continue.

“Abortion is really expensive”

Every Monday EFC busts myths and takes names, cutting through the misinformation, disinformation, and straight up nonsense to bring you the facts.

Most women in England and Wales don’t have to pay to have an abortion. In 2008, 94% of abortions in England and Wales were funded by the NHS. Many of these took place in NHS hospitals, but well over half (60%) occurred at private clinics that have contracts with the NHS to provide abortions for the population in a particular area. In other words, a woman accesses an abortion through NHS referral pathways, but the actual procedure takes place at Marie Stopes, bpas, or another private abortion provider.

The other 6% of abortions were privately funded. This may be because they wanted to access an abortion faster than the NHS in their area would allow, because they did not want to access an abortion at their local hospital where NHS abortions are performed (because they work there, for example), or because a private abortion was more convenient (some NHS-funded abortions require out-of-area travel).

The Department of Health provides statistics on all abortions carried out in England and Wales each year.

Myth-Busting Monday: Do abortions routinely take place right up until 24 weeks?

Every Monday EFC busts myths and take names, cutting through the misinformation, disinformation, and straight up nonsense to bring you the facts.

Abortions rarely take place later in pregnancy.  In fact, less than 2% of abortions take place after 20 weeks. Although abortion is a safe procedure overall, risks do increase with gestation, so it’s preferable for women to have abortions as early in pregnancy as possible. 90% of abortions now take place within the first 12 weeks. Early access also helps ensure women are able to access services closer to home. Women seeking abortion even after 12 weeks are often forced to travel out of their local areas to a small number of clinics around the country that offer later abortions.

Being 18

In addition to news today that sex ed is not up to snuff in many parts of the country, the completely fascinating (though not-very-catchily-named) Youth Cohort Study and Longitudinal Survey of Young People in England was published today. It's full of detailed information about the behaviour of 18-year-olds across England, including, for the first time, sexual behaviour.

What did we learn? For one thing, despite not always receiving much support from schools and families, most 18-year-olds are doing their best to stay sexually healthy: over half of young people NEVER have sex without "precautions or contraception", while only 2% have unprotected sex all the time. Furthermore, 97% of 18-year-olds who knew they had an STI accessed treatment for it. We didn't really learn anything new about the fact that young people sometimes face unintended pregnancy, and that some of these young people choose to continue their pregnancies, while others opt for abortion.

What did the media learn? I'll give you a hint: it starts with "N" and ends with "othing". Okay, I'm being harsh. But I couldn't help but be disappointed. Despite all this interesting news, the ever-reliable Metro went with "1 in 8 teenagers girls gets pregnant" for a headline. (Apparently no boys were involved, girls just "get" pregnant. Do you think it's airborne? Dust off your swine flu masks, everyone.) Yes, this is a very interesting statistic, and it's worth talking about. But just once, couldn't we start with a pat on the back for young people? While newspapers are busy shouting themselves blue about the "teenage pregnancy epidemic" (see below), young people have been quietly getting on with being really sensible. As the astute Dr. Petra pointed out, couldn't we have a headline about getting these young people better support and better education instead?

Lest I fall into my same old "dang media" ramble, let me add that Metro at least made the link between unintended teenage pregnancy (which, of course, not all teenage conceptions are) and the lack of sex education. That's actually a great start. But until the media catches up with us, let us simply note that in at least one way (and depending on how you feel about eye liner, in so many ways) Alice Cooper was wrong: 18-year-olds do sometimes know what they want. (And they don't have babies' brains- that's a really weird line anyway). Despite not always having someone to talk to or learn from about sexual health, they're trying to take care of themselves, and props to them.

Myth-Busting Monday: Do only teenagers have abortions?

Every Monday EFC busts myths and take names, cutting through the misinformation, disinformation, and straight up nonsense to bring you the facts.

Teenagers have about 40,000 abortions a year out of the 195,000 that are carried out in England and Wales each year.  About half of teenage pregnancies end in abortion (for women of all ages it’s 22%). However, while women in the 20-35 age bracket end a smaller proportion of their pregnancies in abortion, they have a lot more pregnancies altogether, and therefore a lot more abortions. In fact, there are more abortions performed on over-40s than there are for under-16s each year.

Good news - today's abortion statistics

I was really happy to see the abortion statistics published by the Department of Health today. They show reductions in the abortion rates for women of all ages. Since it is unlikely that women had less sex in 2009 than they did the year before, it probably means that men and women are using contraception more regularly and more effectively and getting offered a better choice of contraceptive methods – good news! For those women who did access abortion the statistics show that services for women are improving too. 94% of abortions were paid for by the NHS and a massive 91% were carried out before 13 weeks into pregnancy .

The figure that shows an increasing proportion of abortions taking place earlier in pregnancy definitely brings a smile to my face. The earlier abortions happen, the safer they are, and the easier to access. Young women are often the last to seek help because they’re scared, lack knowledge or are in denial about their pregnancy, so getting them into services earlier is a challenge we’ve been helping professionals to meet all over the country.

Just in case you wondered, I’m not complacent. Most abortions happen because the women didn’t intend to get pregnant at that point in her life. That’s a lot of people who still aren’t getting support from partners and professionals to use contraception successfully and of course there’s still that pot of gold at the end of the rainbow we are all searching for – the perfect contraceptive method...

No Sir, these figures don’t make me want to put my feet up and light a fat cigar. There’s so much more to do to make sure young people are given accurate information about pregnancy prevention, pregnancy choices and abortion. Education For Choice is one of dozens of organisations which rue the day the Government failed to give us statutory sex education. We still visit students in schools who have been given presentations by anti-choice organisations who quite deliberately misinform and distress them. Young women seeking abortion after 12 weeks, in all but a few large cities, are most likely to have to travel substantial distances to get an abortion – which is extremely difficult for those with no parental or partner support. In a nutshell , there’s still loads to do and these statistics are just showing slight improvements across all areas. Those improvements have been hard won with professional commitment and substantial investment. Let’s hope the money and commitment continue so we can celebrate again next year.