Figures released by the NHS reveal that marriage is the great protector from abortion. Of the 184,571 abortions performed in England and Wales last year over 80% were performed on unmarried women and girls.

Paul Tully, general secretary of the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children said: "The statistics reveal yet again another catastrophic loss of life with over 184,000 lives ended at NHS expense and two-thirds of these taking place in private clinics at public expense."

"We know that most women do not want abortions and therefore call on tax payers’ money to be used more wisely to avoid abortion. Stable family life, in particular marriage, is hugely important to providing women with the security to continue their pregnancies and the figures testify that marriage is key to that stability."

"We want to see a country which provides the support needed to welcome life rather than see women pressurised for a variety of reasons to seek abortion."

"Another indicator of the anti-life culture is that more than 3,000 babies lives are ended simply because they are at risk of suffering a handicap" concluded Mr. Tully.

For further information contact:

PAUL TULLY at SPUC HQ

TEL: 020 7091 7091

EMAIL: political@spuc.org.uk

Or

JOHN DEIGHAN

CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER SPUC SCOTLAND

TEL: 0141 221 2094

MOBILE: 0780 273 9265