Latest British Abortion Figures Show Increase, Target Blacks
by Maria Gallagher
LifeNews.com Staff Writer
July 23, 2004
London, England (LifeNews.com) — New statistics show that abortion is on the rise in England and Wales. Figures from the Department of Health show that 181,600 abortions were carried out in 2003 — an increase of 3.2 percent over the previous year’s totals.
The Society for the Protection of Unborn Children (SPUC) accused the British government of engaging in "ethnic cleansing" through its abortion policies.
SPUC’s general secretary, Paul Tully, noted that 12 percent of the women having abortions described themselves as black or black British, even though blacks make up a little more than two percent of the total British population.
"Today’s figures indicate that the Department of Health is pursuing a policy of ethnic cleansing in Britain — under the cover of its abortion policies," Tully said.
Tully noted that the statistics indicate that not only black, but Asian women as well, are being targeted for abortion.
The statistics also indicate that the government is making no headway in its goal of reducing abortion among teenagers by 50 percent.
"Promoting the morning-after pill is a particularly ill-founded and harmful policy, because it causes early unregistered abortions, encourages risky sexual behavior, and appears to be fueling the explosion in sexually transmitted infections among young people," Tully added.
While the latest figures show nine in ten abortions occur before 13 weeks, the figures are of little comfort to pro-life advocates, who note that new British ultrasound technology has revealed that babies "walk" in the womb at 12 weeks.
The architect of Britain’s abortion laws, former Liberal Party leader Lord Steel, has called for the legal time limit for abortions to be cut from 24 to 22 weeks. Steel’s legislation legalized the practice of abortion in 1967. Prime Minister Tony Blair has said that the law change may be considered.
But SPUC believes such minor tinkering with the law will do little to reduce abortions in Great Britain.
According to the Health Department statistics, British women between the ages of 20 and 24 were the most likely to abort — a trend also present in the U.S.
The figures also show that England’s abortion industry is trying to lure potential clients from the Republic of Ireland. Some 9,100 women who live abroad had abortions in England and Wales last year. Most of the women have come from Ireland, where the laws reflect the citizen’s pro-life values.
Pro-life advocates say they’re also troubled by the number of abortions carried out on children at risk of having a disability.
Some 1,950 abortions occurred because of the possibility the child would be born with a handicap.
Julia Millington, a spokeswoman for the Pro-life Party, told the British press that the overall abortion figures were "horrifying."
"With increased availability of contraception and the morning-after pill so widely promoted, one would have expected to see a very significant drop in the actual recorded abortion figures, not to find that the totals have reached this tragic all time high," she said.
Patrick Leahy, director of Student LifeNet, echoed that view.
Leahy told a British newspaper, "We are absolutely appalled by the massive rise in the under-16 abortion rate from 3.7 to 3.9 in one year. This represents an unbelievable 5.4% increase–even higher than the 3.2% increase in the total number of abortions. This rise comes despite the millions of pounds the Government has put into cutting the teenage conception rate."
Pro-life advocates add that the sheer magnitude of abortions in Britain is staggering.
SPUC’s Tully said, "Today’s figures confirm that Britain’s abortion holocaust exceeded six million lives by the end of 2003."
Related web sites:
Society for the Protection of the Unborn Child – https://www.spuc.org.uk
