SPUC has decried the “shocking abortion figures” for the first half of 2022 in England & Wales, released today by the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC). “The Government has a duty to defend women from the abortion industry”, a SPUC spokesperson said. “Abortion leads to more abortion… more heartbroken women, more dead babies.”
Statistics released by the DHSC report that there were 123,219 abortions in England and Wales between January and June 2022.
The number of abortions in the first half of 2022 is up 17% compared with the same period in 2021 when there were 105,488 abortions. The majority of abortions (67%) took place up to and including 7 weeks gestation.
Medical abortion (abortion pills) accounted for 86% of all abortions between January and June 2022. 54% took place entirely at home, part of the DIY home abortion scheme introduced during lockdown, with both abortion pills being taken by women without supervision.
Scotland saw an even bigger increase in 2022, when there were 16,584 abortions throughout 2022, a rise of 19% compared with 2021, as reported by SPUC in May.
“UK Government is failing women and their children”
SPUC’s Michael Robinson, Executive Director (Public Affairs and Legal Services), said: “123,219 lives have been ended by the UK’s catastrophic abortion policy. These unborn children were unique human lives with a lifetime of potential ahead of them. Their inherent right to life was snatched away by abortion.
“DIY home abortion has led to a huge increase in abortion, normalising the destruction of unborn babies in the home with no medical supervision or support, all for the sake of abortion ideology. This was always a reckless policy, which resulted in the tragic death of baby Lily, who was well past the legal limit when she was between 32-34 weeks gestation.
“SPUC is calling on legislators to remove this horrific policy before it harms more women and ends the lives of more babies. Government has a duty to defend women from the abortion industry, which manipulates ideas about ‘choice’ and ‘autonomy’ to increase abortion while not caring about women pressured into abortion by circumstances or partners and family members.
“The heartbreaking reality is that many women are pressured or coerced in some way into an abortion. A SavantaComRes poll commissioned by the BBC found that 15% of women aged 18-44 had been pressured into having an abortion they didn’t want.
“These shocking abortion figures make clear the devastating way in which the UK Government is failing women and their children. Abortion leads to more abortion, more tragedy, more heartbroken women, more dead babies.”