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Latest Spanish abortion figures show abortion rate much lower than England and Wales

There were almost 100,000 abortions in Spain in 2019 according to the latest figures from the Spanish Ministry of Health.

The figures, released in December last year, reveal that in 211 abortion centres across the country in 2019, 99,149 abortions took place. This is the highest number of abortions in a single year since 2013, when there were 108,690 abortions.

Abortion was made legal in Spain in 1985 and since then there have been a reported 2,482,750 abortions in the country. The official figures for 2020 have not yet been released but unless there is a dramatic reduction in abortion numbers for 2020, the total number of abortions since 1985 will have surpassed 2.5 million.

Abortion rate in Spain much lower than England and Wales

Spanish abortion law includes a three-day cooling-off period to ensure that a women considering an abortion has had enough time to consider all of the options available to her. The legislation also includes a 14-week time limit for most abortions. Abortion is then allowed up to 22 weeks gestation in cases where there is “serious risks to life or health of the mother or fetus” and after 22 weeks if “fetal anomalies incompatible with life are detected” or if “an extremely serious and incurable disease is detected within the fetus at the time of diagnosis and is confirmed by a clinical committee”. 

In England and Wales, the current abortion law does not provide a cooling-off period and 98% of abortions are performed under the provision in the law which allows abortion on mental health grounds. Abortions under this provision have a time limit of 24 weeks. Abortion is available up to birth when the baby has a disability and on other limited grounds.

In England and Wales the abortion rate has been consistently higher than in Spain. 

In 2019, the age-standardised abortion rate in England and Wales was 18.0 per 1,000 resident women aged 15-44. In Spain the abortion rate was much lower than England and Wales, at 11.53 per 1,000 women aged 15-44 in 2019.

Polling from Savanta ComRes shows that 79% of the general population in England, Wales and Scotland support the introduction of a five-day cooling-off period to ensure that a women considering an abortion has had enough time to consider all of the options available to her. The polling also shows that 60% of the general population and 70% of women believe that the current 24-week gestational limit for abortion should be reduced.

Right To Life UK spokesperson, Catherine Robinson, said: “The prevalence of abortion in Spain is a national tragedy, as it is in the UK and indeed every other country where abortion occurs”. 

“Spain’s abortion rate is considerably lower than the abortion rate in England and Wales. The Spanish law includes a three-day consideration period and a fourteen-week limit for most abortions. These additional safeguards in the law in Spain are likely playing some part in their lower abortion rate and fewer lives being lost to abortion in the country”. 

“Polling shows that the British public supports introducing more safeguards to abortion legislation to England, Wales and Scotland. Strong majorities support introducing a cooling-off period and lowering the current twenty-four week time limit”.

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Help stop three major anti-life threats.

Dear reader,

Thanks to the hard work and dedication of people like you across the UK, the McArthur assisted suicide Bill in Scotland was defeated in March by 69 votes to 57.

Then, in April, the Leadbeater assisted suicide Bill fell in the House of Lords.

Many commentators thought both Bills would become law.

If that had happened, governments in England, Scotland and Wales would now be preparing to roll out assisted suicide services.

Over the coming decades, this would have led to the deaths of many thousands of vulnerable people.

But that is not what happened.

Because supporters like you acted, those Bills were stopped.

Because of you, many vulnerable lives have been saved.

These were two very significant victories. But sadly, they are not the last battles we face this year.

The new Parliamentary session began on Wednesday. We now face three major threats.

  1. Attempts to bring back the Leadbeater assisted suicide Bill and bypass the House of Lords

    The assisted suicide lobby, led by Dignity in Dying, a multi-million-pound pressure group, has made it clear that it is going to attempt to bring back the Leadbeater assisted suicide Bill in the next parliamentary session.

    It then plans to use the Parliament Acts to bypass the House of Lords and force the Bill into law.

  2. Labour Government plans for a major expansion of abortion provision, including financial incentives for ‘lunch-hour’ abortions

    Under these plans, the Government would financially incentivise major abortion providers, BPAS and MSI Reproductive Choices, to provide ‘lunch-hour’ or ‘same-day’ abortions.

    ‘Lunch-hour’ abortion services are walk-in abortion services designed to fit into a woman’s lunch hour.

    Women facing an unplanned pregnancy need time, care and support, not a system that gives abortion clinics a financial incentive to rush them through consultations, scans and abortions on the same day.

    If these plans go ahead, many more lives are likely to be ended by abortion here in the UK.

  3. Extreme abortion up to birth proposals in Scotland

    In Scotland, plans are moving forward to introduce an extreme abortion up to birth law. This would go far beyond the abortion law change recently backed by the Lords for England and Wales.

    A review of abortion law in Scotland, commissioned by Humza Yousaf when he was Scottish First Minister, recommended that the Scottish Government scrap the current 24-week time limit – and abortion be available on social grounds, including for sex-selective purposes, right up to birth.

    The final plans are expected to be brought forward as a Government Bill in the new Scottish Parliament, which began on Thursday.

If these three major threats succeed, thousands of vulnerable lives will be lost.

We cannot allow this to happen.

We can only defeat these three major threats with your help.

We ran our biggest campaigns ever to help defeat the assisted suicide Bills at Westminster and in Scotland.

That work has made a serious dent in our limited resources.

To cover this gap and ensure we can effectively defeat these three major threats in the coming months, we are aiming to raise at least £199,250 by midnight this Sunday (17 May 2026).

We are, therefore, appealing to you to please give as generously as you can.

Every donation, large or small, will make a crucial difference in saving the lives of the unborn and many others. Plus, if you are a UK taxpayer, £1 becomes £1.25 with Gift Aid at no extra cost to you.

By stopping these threats, YOU can save lives during this new Parliamentary session.

Will you donate now to help protect vulnerable lives from these three major threats?

EMERGENCY
APPEAL
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lives

Help stop three major anti-life threats.

Help stop three major anti-life threats.