The Daily Mail has reported that the widespread use of “pills-by-post” abortions is being blamed for a record number of pregnancies ending in abortion, as newly released official statistics show that almost one in three pregnancies in England and Wales now result in the death of an unborn child.
According to figures published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), there were 871,050 conceptions in England and Wales in 2023. Of those, 279,970 ended in abortion, meaning 32.1% of all pregnancies were terminated. That represents a sharp increase from 29.7% in 2022, and a rise of more than 35% compared with 2019, the last full year before the coronavirus pandemic.
As the Daily Mail notes, before COVID-19 around one in four pregnancies ended in abortion. Since then, the introduction and permanent adoption of the pills-by-post scheme has coincided with a dramatic rise in abortion numbers.
The scheme, introduced during the pandemic and made permanent in 2022, allows women up to ten weeks pregnant to obtain abortion pills following a telephone or online consultation, without attending an in-person appointment. Before the pandemic, women were required to attend a clinic to take the first abortion pill under medical supervision.
While the total number of conceptions increased in 2023, the number resulting in live births remained largely unchanged, suggesting that the increase has been driven almost entirely by a growing number of abortions.
The ONS data also show that abortions have increased across every age group. Women aged 30 to 34 recorded the highest number of conceptions and remained the least likely age group to have an abortion, with 22.4% of pregnancies ending in termination. By contrast, more than half of pregnancies among girls under 20 ended in abortion.
Among women aged over 40, conception rates reached their highest level on record, while 38% of pregnancies in that age group ended in abortion.
The latest figures have renewed criticism of the pills-by-post policy. Conservative peer Lord Jackson of Peterborough said the statistics pointed to “a real crisis in vulnerable women’s health.”
“In many of these cases, there are medical complications from taking ‘pills-by-post’ at home because you don’t have the same medical scrutiny,” he said. “Not having any in-person medical meeting is a charade. It doesn’t prevent women being abused and manipulated by their partners.”
Michael Robinson, Executive Director of the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children (SPUC), also questioned those who had championed the changes. “How many more babies’ lives will be ended by the latest changes, and when will they admit that liberalising abortion simply puts the health of more women and their unborn babies at risk?” he said.
The figures come only months after MPs voted to remove criminal penalties for women who procure their own abortions outside the existing legal framework, while rejecting proposals that would have restored mandatory in-person consultations before abortion pills are prescribed.
With abortion numbers now at record levels, the latest statistics are likely to intensify calls for a renewed debate about whether the current law offers sufficient protection for both women and their unborn children.
