By Dave Andrusko
Every story that begins with “fewer abortions” is encouraging. “Fewer abortions being carried out in Scotland” was the headline in a couple of different stories today based on government statistics.
After rising each year from 11,870 in 2002 to 13,902 in 2008, in 2009 the number of abortions dropped to 13,108. In 2010 the number decreased again, to 12,826. The report presents four key dimensions.
· More than a quarter of the women had at least one previous abortion. “The highest rate for repeat abortions was in the Tayside area, where 35.2% of the women who had terminations in 2010 had previously undergone abortions.”
· Almost exactly two-thirds of the abortions (65.2%) were performed at less than nine weeks.
· The highest abortion rate was among younger women (peaking in the 20-24 age group)– 22.4 per 1,000.
· “Abortion continued to be most common in the most deprived areas of Scotland. In areas of high deprivation, the overall rate was 16.0 per 1,000 women. In the least deprived areas, the rate was 9.2 per 1,000.”
An unidentified spokesman for the government said, “It is encouraging to see a reduction in the number of terminations for all age groups in Scotland for the second year running.”
Meanwhile, last week the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children (SPUC) reported on the increase of abortion in England and Wales for 2010—the figure now stood at 90,000 unborn babies. According to SPUC
“The figures for 2010 in England and Wales show a slight increase in registered abortions over the previous year. Abortions were 8% higher than 10 years before in 2000.”
“A notable shift in the figures for 2010 is an increase of nearly 10% in abortions of disabled babies. 2290 disabled babies were destroyed in 2010, compared to 2085 in 2009,” said Paul Tully, SPUC’s general secretary. “The average for the past 5 years had been under 2000.
“Private abortionists are once again favoured by the Department of Health policy of spending NHS money on so-called ‘charitable’ abortion services. These services do not provide any genuine benefit, but simply provide abortions and charge the NHS.
“’In contrast, there has been a further small but welcome reduction in abortions performed here on women from Northern Ireland. Abortion is illegal in Northern Ireland but some women travel to England for abortions. The figure has gone down from 1577 in 2001 to 1101 in 2010,’ concluded Mr. Tully.”