PRESS RELEASE – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
54 years of abortion: 9,900,961 lives lost since 1967
Today marks the 54th anniversary of the Abortion Act coming into effect in 1968 – 6 months after it received Royal Assent.
Since then, a staggering 9,900,961* unborn babies have lost their lives to abortion across England, Wales, and Scotland — in 2020, more than one baby was lost to abortion every two and a half minutes; 25 lives were ended every hour.
Over 1 in 4 (25.2%) pregnancies in England and Wales now end in abortion, according to the most recent Government statistics.
The number of abortions in England and Wales reached a record high with 210,860 taking place in 2020, while the number of terminations performed in Scotland was the second-highest on record at 13,815.
This significant rise in abortions accompanied Governments introducing a temporary measure in March 2020 allowing ‘DIY’ home abortions in England and Wales, and Scotland.
Abortion statistics released by the Department of Health and Social Care show that 209,917 abortions were performed for English and Welsh residents in 2020.
This is 2,533 more than in 2019, which was until now the highest number on record.
Opinion polls repeatedly show that the public wants increased protections for unborn babies and the number of abortions reduced – 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.
Polling from 2019 revealed that over 41% of Londoners believe abortion should be illegal in almost all circumstances.
A spokesperson for Right to Life UK, Catherine Robinson said:
“The UK’s abortion law is failing both women and unborn babies. It is a national tragedy that 9,900,961 lives have been lost since the passing of the 1967 Abortion Act, each one a valuable human being who was denied the right to life”.
“Every one of these abortions represents a failure of our society to protect the lives of babies in the womb and a failure to offer full support to women with unplanned pregnancies”.
“While people may pause to remember this tragedy, this day also serves as a reminder 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 centers and undertaking other pro-life activities that support mothers and their children in pregnancy and beyond”.
ENDS
- For additional quotes and media interviews contact press@righttolife.org.uk or 07774 483658.
- For further information on Right To Life UK visit www.righttolife.org.uk
*This figure is a projection for England, Wales and Scotland through to midnight on 27/4/22 and has been calculated based on the following assumptions:
- The number of abortions per day in England and Wales will remain the same in 2022 and 2021 as in 2020.
- The number of abortions per day in Scotland will remain the same in 2022 and 2021 as in 2020.
- The rate of abortions throughout the year is evenly distributed.
- Please note, we have not included data for abortions that have occurred in Northern Ireland since 2020 because it has not been made clear on which day abortions began being performed in Northern Ireland and it is, therefore, unreliable to model a projection for the remainder of the year using this.
