Abortion has become the go-to method of “birth control” in the UK, study suggests

abortion birth control sad woman

Over two-thirds of British women who had abortions in 2023 used no method of contraception before getting pregnant, a new study suggests. SPUC said that the study “shows that abortion is now seen as the go-to method of so-called ‘birth control’ in the UK, which is what abortion providers wanted all along”.

The study, published in BMJ Sexual & Reproductive Health journal, used abortion data provided by the British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS).

Researchers looked at the method of contraception before the pregnancy that resulted in abortion: 33,495 abortions in January-June 2018 (Period 1) and 55,055 abortions in January-June 2023 (Period 2).

Out of these abortions, the percentage of women stating “No method” of contraception surged from 18,703 (55.8%) in Period 1 to 38,336 (69.6%) in Period 2 – a rise of 14% in five years.

While the study also noted a sixfold increase in women turning to “fertility awareness-based methods” (FABM) – away from “more reliable hormonal methods of contraception” (LARC) – this amounted to 129 (0.4%) in Period 1 and 1,364 (2.5%) in Period 2.

By “fertility awareness”, the study was referring to calendars on apps that detail when a woman is least likely to conceive.

The authors stated: “We found a significant increase in the number of individuals reporting no method of contraception at time of conception. This requires further investigation as FABM are less efficacious at preventing unintended pregnancies compared with LARC and hormonal methods.”

One of the research authors, Dr Patricia Lohr of BPAS, said that the study indicated that “women are making different contraceptive choices or can’t get the methods they want…

“In this context, abortion remains a vital option, whether as a back-up when contraception fails or as an alternative when contraception is unavailable or unsuitable. Ensuring access to abortion care is crucial to supporting women in making the choices that are right for them.”

“Disingenuous” to blame rise in abortions on mobile apps

Daniel Frampton, SPUC Editorial Officer, said: “This study shows that abortion is now seen as the go-to method of so-called ‘birth control’ in the UK, which is what abortion providers wanted all along.

“While the study’s authors can spin the stats as much as they want, the shift away from hormonal methods towards fertility awareness-based apps pales in comparison to the surge in women reporting ‘no method’ at all.

“There were over a quarter of a million abortions in England and Wales in 2022 – a 17% increase compared with the previous year. Are the study’s authors seriously claiming that fertility awareness apps are to blame?

“Simply put, it’s disingenuous to attribute this huge rise to mobile apps. As usual, abortion providers and their apologists refuse to take accountability for their own advocacy that every day seeks to normalise abortion – to the point that abortion is essentially treated as a form of ‘birth control’ in its own right, we may reasonably speculate.

“It’s also clear that the pills-by-post policy, allowing women to obtain abortion pills over the phone and use them until 10 weeks of pregnancy, has further enabled this normalisation.

“Instead of taking responsibility, abortion providers prefer to spin statistics to justify more abortion. While this is shameless, it is hardly surprising. Women deserve better.”

TAKE ACTION: Sign SPUC Petition

SPUC has launched a new petition calling on the Health Secretary, Wes Streeting, to review the pills-by-post policy and bring it to an end.

In December, Norfolk man Stuart Worby was sentenced to 12 years in prison for using abortion pills to poison his pregnant girlfriend, causing the death of her baby at 15 weeks gestation. He crushed mifepristone into her drink and later administered misoprostol during a sexual assault.

Any impartial review of the evidence would show that the pills-by-post policy is dangerous for women and poses unacceptable risks.

Please add your name to our petition to help bring this policy to an end: SIGN THE PETITION.



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