Understanding abortion statistics

A bpas briefing produced by Abortion Review. Last updated on 24 May 2011.

Download the full briefing as a .pdf here: Understanding Abortion Statistics, or follow the links below to read it online.

The 2010 abortion statistics for England and Wales are published by the Department of Health and available here.

Read commentary on the key trends from the 2010 statistics here.

Contents

1) Introduction: About abortion statistics
Where do abortion statistics come from? What the statistics can tell us; What the statistics cannot tell us; Which statistics to treat with particular caution.

2) Number of abortions
How many abortions are there? What is the abortion rate? What is the birth rate? How many women come to Britain from overseas to have an abortion? How many women have ‘repeat’ abortions? What factors affect the abortion rate? Relevant commentary.

3) Grounds for abortion
How are the legal grounds applied in practice? How common is termination of pregnancy for fetal anomaly? Relevant commentary.

4) Age, marital status, previous children, and ethnicity
How does abortion relate to age? Abortion and fertility rates; Marital status, previous children, and ethnicity; Relevant commentary.

5) Gestation, method and complication rates
‘Early’ abortion; Later abortion; Methods of abortion; Which method is best? How safe is abortion? Relevant commentary.

6) Provision, funding and geographical location
Who provides abortions? What are the geographical variations in abortion provision? How is abortion regulated? Relevant commentary.

7) Further resources