PRESS RELEASE – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
55 years of abortion: 10,021,618 lives lost since 1967
Thursday 27 October 2022 marks the 55th anniversary of the Abortion Act receiving Royal Assent.
Since then, a staggering 10,021,618* unborn babies have lost their lives to abortion across England, Wales and Scotland.
In 2021, more than one baby was lost to abortion every two and a half minutes; 26 lives were ended every hour.
The number of abortions in England and Wales reached a record high with 214,869 taking place in 2021, while 13,758 terminations were performed in Scotland in the same year.
More abortions likely to happen in Northern Ireland after UK Government takes over abortion services
In July last year, it was revealed that 1,624 terminations have already taken place under the new regime, despite the fact that the Northern Ireland Department of Health has not officially commissioned abortion ‘services’.
Now the number of abortions taking place in Northern Ireland is likely to increase after the UK Government announced that it will be commissioning abortion services in Northern Ireland.
Once abortion services are fully commissioned, disability-selective abortion will be available up to birth for all disabilities, including cleft lip, cleft palate, club foot and Down’s syndrome. It would also see de facto abortion on demand available through to 24 weeks and allow sex-selective abortion through 12 weeks.
Polling from Savanta ComRes shows that 66% of women and 70% of 18-34-year-olds in Northern Ireland did not want abortion law being imposed on Northern Ireland from Westminster. The strongest support among age groups surveyed came from 18-34-year-olds, with 70% agreeing that they did not want abortion law imposed on Northern Ireland.
Polling shows support for more protections for unborn children
Opinion polls repeatedly show that the public want 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 10,021,618 lives have been lost since the 1967 Abortion Act received Royal Assent, 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”.
“We are always looking at how we can save more lives by ensuring that protections for unborn babies are introduced and safeguards are strengthened to protect both mothers and babies”.
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 27/10/22 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 as in 2021.
- The number of abortions per day in Scotland will remain the same in 2022 as in 2021.
- 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.
