Survey shows prevalence of abortion

More than one woman in 10 who is married or in a long-term relationship has had an abortion, according to a survey commissioned by Schering Healthcare.

The survey of 1,020 women, published on 12 February, found that abortions peak among women in their 20s, with 12% of respondents aged 26 to 34 having undergone an abortion. A fifth said they were not using any contraception at the time and 27% said they had forgotten to take the pill.

Schering Healthcare, manufacturers of long-term contraception, called for women to be better educated about IUDs (intra-uterine devices), injections and implants. But family planning experts said that women were not being helped by the closure of contraceptive clinics and the reluctance of primary care trusts to pay for long-lasting contraception, which in the short term is more expensive than packets of the daily contraceptive pill.

‘Obtaining the most suitable contraceptive method so that she is not confronted with an unexpected pregnancy is an issue for any woman, regardless of whether she is older, younger, single or in a relationship,’ said Anne Weyman, chief executive of fpa.

Ann Furedi, chief executive of BPAS, said: ‘We know that a large proportion of the women we see are in their 20s and in long-term relationships and are not ignorant about contraception. They know how to prevent pregnancy and how to get contraception, but either their method lets them down or they don’t use it in the way it should be used, which we have often said is not terribly surprising given that it demands a degree of planning and organisation and foresight and sex is sometimes unexpected and doesn’t fit into that type of framework.’

Ms Furedi said it was disappointing that little effort seemed to be going into producing new measures of contraception for women who were unhappy with hormonal methods like the pill. All that are offered are ‘replays of the same old technology - better delivery systems for the same old hormones’, she said. ‘Women who find current contraceptive methods difficult seem to have fallen off the agenda.’

A further survey released on 12 February by fpa reveals widespread confusion about sex and reproduction. Based on questions commonly asked of its helpline, fpa commissioned a survey which found that 29% of people thought jumping up and down after sex, douching or urinating would stop a woman becoming pregnant or said they did not know whether these interventions would work. Half did not know when a woman’s most fertile time of the month was and 89% did not know that sperm could live inside the body for seven days. fpa is calling for sex education to become a statutory part of the national curriculum in schools.

Abortions peak among women in their 20s, says survey. Guardian, 12 February 2007