"Abortion is a significant mental health risk factor and the abortion industry in this country is betraying women on a massive scale."
The 2016 Abortion Statistics for England and Wales were published today - and they serve to highlight the horrendous impact of the abortion industry, and the toll of human misery.
The figures revealed that the vast majority of abortions were carried out under "mental health" grounds, and contained grim details of the numbers of feticides - cases where the pregnancy is so advanced the baby is killed prior to the abortion itself. Abortions for Down's syndrome, as well as selective reductions of pregnancy following fertility treatment, increased.
Miscertification
97% of abortions in 2016 were undertaken under Ground C (risk to physical or mental health of the woman) and of those 99.8% were listed as being because of mental health. Responding to this, SPUC Campaigns Director Antonia Tully said in a press release:
"These figures tell the same story we've been hearing for decades. The vast majority of abortions are carried out on the grounds that a woman's mental health is more at risk if she continues with the pregnancy than if she has an abortion. We know that doctors are not making a proper mental health assessment of women before signing the abortion form. This means that they are certifying women for abortion on false grounds."
Mrs Tully said the impact on the mental health of women was causing deep and genuine fears, adding: "The evidence pointing to the harm to a woman's mental health is piling up. The medical establishment is either ignorant of these studies or willfully ignoring them. Abortion is a significant mental health risk factor and the abortion industry in this country is betraying women on a massive scale."
Feticide
The apparently dull set of government statistics also brought home the brutal uncivilised reality of what happens to babies in Britain by mentioning the number of feticides. As the report coolly states, "for abortions at 22 weeks or beyond, feticide is recommended by the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists prior to the evacuation of the uterus to stop the fetal heart." The numbers are small, but not insignificant - "In 2016, of the 1,508 abortions performed at 22 weeks and over, 48% were reported as preceded by a feticide and a further 45% were performed by a method whereby the fetal heart is stopped as part of the procedure."
Screening out Down's syndrome
The Don't Screen Us Out Campaign also highlighted the increase in the number of babies being aborted - 689 in 2015 to 706 in 2016. They warn that the situation will get even worse as the Government's moves ahead with proposals to integrate Non-Invasive Prenatal Screening (NIPT) into the Fetal Anomaly Screening Programme.
The figures also show an increase in selective terminations following fertility treatment - where triplets or twins are reduced down to one or two babies - 141 in 2016, up from 119 in 2015.
The job of the pro-life movement
Antonia Tully spelt out what needs to be done in light of the statistics. "This year, in the 50th anniversary of the passing of the Abortion Act, SPUC is campaigning to put an end to the scandal of miscertification of abortion.
"SPUC is engaging with concerned citizens at the grassroots, and is asking them to contact their MP and demand that the Secretary of State for Health takes steps to ensure that doctors are not flouting the law by signing off women for abortion with no evidence that having a baby will damage their mental health.
"Since the Abortion Act of 1967, an estimated 8.7 million unborn children have been killed in the UK - there are around 550 abortions every day.
"The job of the pro-life movement in 2017 is to make the idea of stopping abortion completely in the UK completely normal - because it really is normal not to kill children."
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