As the abortion statistics for 2023 revealed that almost one in three of all pregnancies in the UK ended in abortion during that year, X owner, entrepreneur and richest man in the world, Elon Musk, has intervened in the debate by expressing disbelief about these statistics.
Yesterday, after an 18-month delay, the Department of Health and Social Care released the abortion statistics for England and Wales for 2023, revealing that 278,740 abortions took place during the year. When these are combined with the number of abortions in Northern Ireland and Scotland, the total number of abortions in the UK in 2023 can be estimated as 299,614.*
After Right To Life UK broke the news of the almost 300,000 abortions in 2023 on X, some commentary focused on the total number of pregnancies ending in abortion relative to the total number of pregnancies ending in a live birth.
Given there were a total of 656,969 live births in the UK in 2023, this means that approximately 31.32% of all pregnancies, almost one in three, ended in abortion in 2023 (excluding instances of miscarriage and stillbirth).
In apparent disbelief about this stark figure and the low fertility rate in the UK, Elon Musk said “Wow”.
Musk is well-known for his outspoken concern about falling birth rates.
Rise in repeat abortions
The statistics for 2023 also show a rise in repeat abortions for residents of England and Wales from 102,689 in 2022 to 117,165 in 2023. This represents 14,476 more repeat abortions than in 2022. This is a 14.1% increase from 2022 and means that 42.03% of abortions for residents of England and Wales were repeat abortions.
There were 3,205 disability-selective abortions in 2023, an increase of 81 from 2022, when there were 3,124 disability-selective abortions. This represents a 2.59% increase in disability-selective abortions.
There were 300 late-term abortions for babies with disabilities at 24 weeks and over for residents of England and Wales, an increase of 44 from 2022, when there were 256 disability-selective late-term abortions. This represents a 17.19% increase in late-term abortions for babies with disabilities at 24 weeks and over.
Spokesperson for Right To Life UK, Catherine Robinson, said “The abortion numbers in the UK are truly shocking, and they are made even worse relative to the number of live births. Abortion, aside from its intrinsic wrongness, is now a major cause of our demographic crisis. High-profile individuals are right to notice this fact. It remains extraordinary that most commentators refuse to engage with this issue at all”.
*Full breakdown of abortion numbers available here.
