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Abortion toll soars among girls under 16
THE number of abortions among girls under 16 rose to 4,376 last year – and the sharpest increase was for girls under 14, it was revealed yesterday.
There were 163 abortions among girls under 14 across England and Wales in 2007, a 21 per cent increase from the 135 in 2006, while the number of procedures carried out among girls aged 14 rose by 11 per cent from 907 to 1,008 last year, according to figures from the Department of Health.
There were 3,205 abortions to girls aged 15 in 2007, a nine per cent increase on the 2,948 in 2006.
In Yorkshire there were 16,693 abortions among women of all ages last year, an increase of 712 compared with 2006.
Doncaster has the highest abortion rate in the region with 22 cases per 1,000 women aged between 15 and 44, compared with a Yorkshire average of 16.
Across Yorkshire there was an increase in abortions among women of all ages apart from those aged between 30 and 34, where the figure fell from 2,108 in 2006 to 1,968.
Nationally there was a 2.5 per cent increase in the number of women having an abortion from 193,700 in 2006 to 198,500 last year.
The latest Department of Health figures will fuel the debate over abortion, after MPs last month rejected calls to lower the upper time limit of 24 weeks when abortions can take place.
Government advisers have called for better sex education in schools and investment in contraceptive services for young people to help reduce abortions among teenagers.
The latest data showed that, among all girls aged under 16, there was a 10 per cent rise, from 3,990 abortions in 2006 to 4,376 in 2007.
Among all those aged under 15, there was a 12 per cent rise, from 1,042 in 2006 to 1,171 in 2007.
In 2007, there were a further 7,100 abortions for women not resident in England and Wales, fewer than the 7,400 in 2006.
Of the 7,100 abortions to non-residents in 2007, 1,343 were among women from Northern Ireland, and 4,686 were among women from the Irish Republic.
Among women resident in England and Wales, the abortion rate was highest for those aged 19 at 36 cases per 1,000 women.
The figures also reveal that nine out of 10 abortions were funded by the NHS, but more of half of those were carried out by private providers under an NHS contract.
Abortions involving the use of pills, rather than a surgical abortion, accounted for 35 per cent of the total number of procedures, compared with 30 per cent in 2006.
One per cent of abortions were carried out because the child would have been born disabled.
Health Minister Dawn Primarolo said: "Our priority is to reduce the time women have to wait for an abortion at what is already a very difficult time for them.
"These statistics show that we have made considerable progress in this, over two-thirds of women having their abortion at under 10 weeks in 2007, up from half in 2002."
The chairman of the Teenage Pregnancy Independent Advisory Group, Gill Frances, said: "We know what works to reduce abortion amongst teenagers.
"We need high quality sex and relationships education at school and at home and effective contraception. Primary care trusts must ensure they are investing in contraceptive services for young people.
"The Department of Health recently allocated 13m to trusts to improve contraceptive services, but many of them have been unable to locate the money, which was not ring-fenced and not flagged up."
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Saturday 11 February 2012
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