British Health Dept Statistics Show Abortions on Teenagers Up Significantly
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by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
June 19, 2008
London, England (LifeNews.com) — More preliminary figures from the British health department are coming in and they show the number of abortions on young teenagers are up significantly in 2007 compared with the year before. The figures are concerning for pro-life groups who say the British Parliament is opening up the door for more.
Across all age groups in England and Wales, abortions appear to have risen 2.5 percent. But the jump in teen abortions is staggering in comparison.
The number of abortions on girls younger than 14 years of age rose 21 percent from 2006 to 2007 — making it appear more cases of sexual abuse are occurring and resulting in more abortions.
Looking at other teen years, abortions on 14-year-olds jumped 11 percent from 2006 to 2007, abortions on 15-year-olds rose 12 percent, and abortions on 16-year-olds increased 10 percent.
Meanwhile, 19-year-old girls once again have the highest rate of abortions for the second year in a row among all age categories, including adults. There were 36 abortions on these teen girls per 1,000 women, up from 35 per 1,000 in 2006.
While abortions rose on teenagers, the British health department showed abortions on women in their 30s fell.
Abortions on women who are not residents of Britain also fell from 7,400 in 2006 to 7,100 in 2007.
The Society for the Protection of Unborn Children, one of the leading pro-life groups in England, blasted the new numbers and said they smacked of a "conveyor-belt" approach for abortions on women.
"The figures reflect the Department of Health’s policy of performing an abortion as quickly as possible on any woman enquiring," SPUC’s director John Smeaton told Reuters.
"The policy includes arm-twisting doctors who are reluctant to refer for abortion," he said.
As in the United States, the number of abortions in England using the dangerous RU 486 abortion drug are on the rise. Mifepristone abortions now account for 35 percent of all abortions in the UK, up from 30 percent in 2006.
Recently, a British teenager became the fourteenth woman worldwide, and the third in England, to die from complications resulting from the abortion drug causing a failed abortion.
Most abortions were done for social or economic reasons as a matter of birth control and just one percent of abortions were done because of concerns the unborn baby would be born physically disabled.
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