Today, Sunday 27 October, marks the 57th anniversary of the Abortion Act receiving royal assent. Since then, a staggering 10,605,611* unborn babies have lost their lives to abortion across the UK — one baby is lost to abortion every two minutes; 31 lives are ended every hour**.
There were 252,122 abortions in England and Wales in 2022 according to statistics released by the Department of Health and Social Care, an increase of 37,253 (17.34%) from 2021.
This was the highest number of abortions ever recorded in England and Wales in a single year.
This significant rise in abortions has accompanied the second full year that at-home abortion services have been operating in England and Wales.
Opinion polls repeatedly show that the public wants increased protections for unborn babies and more support for mothers facing unplanned pregnancies rather than the wholesale removal of legal safeguards around abortion.
Only 1% of the population want abortion to be available up to birth and 70% of women want the abortion limit to be reduced to 20 weeks or lower.
Spokesperson for Right To Life UK, Catherine Robinson, said “Our abortion laws are failing both women and unborn babies. It is a national tragedy that 10,605,611 lives have been lost since the 1967 Abortion Act came into effect, each one a unique and irreplaceable human being who was denied the right to life”.
“Every one of these abortions represents a collective failure of our society to protect the lives of babies in the womb and provide full support to women with unplanned pregnancies”.
“While we may pause to commemorate this tragedy, this day also serves as a call to action for people around the country to renew their efforts to do everything they can to help ensure more lives are saved from abortion in the future”.
“This includes contacting MPs and asking them to ensure that protections for unborn babies are introduced and safeguards are strengthened to protect both mothers and babies – along with volunteering with pregnancy support centres and undertaking other pro-life activities that support mothers and their children in pregnancy and beyond”.
“By being proactive and taking action, every single one of us can be part of building a pro-life nation where we protect and defend the right to life of every human being from conception to natural death”.
***
*10,605,611 cumulative abortions in the UK. Based on the following assumptions:
- This figure is a projection for the United Kingdom through to midnight on 27/10/24
- The total number of abortions per day in England & Wales for 2024 and 2023 remain the same as the total number of abortions per day in 2022
- The total number of abortions per day in Scotland for 2024 remains the same as the total number of abortions per day in 2023
- The total number of abortions per day in Northern Ireland for 2024 and 2023 remain the same as the total number of abortions per day for 1 April 2022 – 31 March 2023
- The rate of abortions throughout the year is evenly distributed
Please note, we have not included data for any abortions that have occurred in Northern Ireland before 2007
** This figure has been calculated using the abortion statistics released by the Department for Health and Social Care for England and Wales for the year 1 January 2022 – 31 December 2022; the abortion statistics released by Public Health Scotland for the year 1 January 2023 – 31 December 2023; and the abortion statistics released by Northern Irish Department of Health for the year 1 April 2022 – 31 March 2023. These are the latest statistics released for each region that provide data for a full year.
