Today, Monday 27 October, marks the 58th anniversary of the Abortion Act receiving royal assent.
Since then, a staggering 10,880,563* 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 is the most recent year for which abortion statistics for England and Wales are available.
This was the highest number of abortions ever recorded in England and Wales in a single year.
This significant rise in abortions accompanied the second full year that at-home abortion services operated in England and Wales.
Right To Life UK is calling for Peers to support Baroness Monckton and Baroness Stroud’s amendments to the Crime and Policing Bill to overturn the highly controversial abortion up to birth amendment (clause 191) and to reinstate in-person consultations with a medical professional prior to an abortion taking place at home.
Clause 191 was introduced by Tonia Antoniazzi MP in the Commons after just 46 minutes of backbench debate – there was no prior consultation with the public, no Committee Stage scrutiny and no evidence sessions.
The clause would change the law so it would no longer be illegal for women to perform their own abortions for any reason, including sex-selective purposes, and at any point up to and during birth, likely leading to a significant increase in the number of women performing dangerous late-term abortions at home.
This would likely lead to the lives of many more women being endangered because of the risks involved with ‘DIY’ late-term abortions and also tragically lead to an increased number of viable babies’ lives being ended well beyond the 24-week abortion time limit and beyond the point at which they would be able to survive outside the womb.
Two high-profile members of the House of Lords, Baroness Monckton and Baroness Stroud, have tabled amendments with other Peers to overturn the highly controversial abortion up to birth amendment (clause 191) to the Crime and Policing Bill, and to reinstate in-person consultations with a medical professional prior to an abortion taking place at home.
Polls show majority support pro-life change to abortion law
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.
A spokesperson for Right To Life UK, Catherine Robinson, said “Our abortion laws continue to fail both women and unborn babies. Since the Abortion Act received royal assent in 1967, a devastating 10,880,563 lives have been lost to abortion, each one a precious, unique and irreplaceable human being who was denied the right to life”.
“Each 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”.
“As we pause to reflect on 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 Peers, asking them to ensure that protections for unborn babies are introduced and safeguards are strengthened to protect both mothers and babies – as well as volunteering with pregnancy support centres and joining other pro-life efforts that support mothers and their children in pregnancy and beyond”.
“By taking action, each one of us can be part of building a pro-life nation that protects and defends the right to life of every human being from conception to natural death”.
***
*10,880,563 cumulative abortions in the UK. Based on the following assumptions:
- This figure is a projection for the United Kingdom through to midnight on 27/10/25
- The total number of abortions per day in England & Wales for 2025, 2024 and 2023 remains the same as the total number of abortions per day in 2022
- The total number of abortions per day in Scotland for 2025 remains the same as the total number of abortions per day in 2024
- The total number of abortions per day in Northern Ireland for 2025, 2024 and 2023 remains 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 2024 – 31 December 2024; and the abortion statistics released by Northern Irish Department of Health for the year 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024. These are the latest statistics released for each region that provide data for a full year.
