Abortion statistics, England and Wales: 2019

Abortion Statistics, England and Wales: 2019

Summary information from the abortion notification forms returned to the Chief Medical Officers of England and Wales. January to December 2019.

Published 11 June 2020, an annual update.

Abortion Statistics, England and Wales: 2019

Contents

Contents .............................................................................................................................. 2 Key events ........................................................................................................................... 3 Key points in 2019 ............................................................................................................... 4 1. Introduction ................................................................................................................... 5

Further information ........................................................................................................... 5 Previous publications........................................................................................................5 2. Commentary..................................................................................................................6 Overall number and rate of abortions ............................................................................... 6 Age ................................................................................................................................... 6 Marital status .................................................................................................................... 7 Ethnicity ............................................................................................................................ 8 Area of residence within England & Wales.......................................................................8 Location and funding of abortions.....................................................................................9 Statutory grounds for abortion ..........................................................................................9 Legal abortions performed under ground E .................................................................... 11 Gestation period ............................................................................................................. 11 Previous abortions..........................................................................................................12 Previous obstetric history ............................................................................................... 12 Method of abortion..........................................................................................................12 Complications ................................................................................................................. 14 Selective terminations .................................................................................................... 15 Women resident outside England and Wales.................................................................15 Abortions for women from Northern Ireland....................................................................15 Abortions for women from the Irish Republic .................................................................. 15 Abortion rates by Index of Multiple Deprivation, (IMD), deciles ...................................... 16 Age range analysis by Index of Multiple Deprivation, (IMD), deciles .............................. 17 Glossary ......................................................................................................................... 18

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Abortion Statistics, England and Wales: 2019

Key events

Date

Key event

October 1967

Abortion Act 1967 passed. Introduced by David Steel and supported by the government under a free vote. It legalised abortion on certain grounds, by legalised practitioners, in England, Wales and Scotland. The act came into effect on 27 April 1968.

November 1990

The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill lowered the gestation limit for abortions from 28 weeks to 24 weeks. This is the currently accepted point at which the fetus is considered viable outside the mother's body. The act came into effect on 1 April 1991.

June 2017

Northern Ireland funding scheme introduced, to provide funded abortions in England and Wales, for residents of Northern Ireland. In cases of hardship, travel costs are also covered. Funding is provided by the Government Equalities Office and HM Treasury.

June 2018

Women in Wales, and from 28 December 2018 women in England, can take the second of the two abortion pills, misoprostol, at home. This brought England and Wales in line with Scotland, which allowed the second pill to be taken at home from October 2017.

December Abortion legalised on certain grounds, in the Irish Republic, up to 12 weeks

2018

gestation and later if the woman's life or health is at risk. The law came into

effect on 20 December 2018.

October 2019

March 2020

Abortion in Northern Ireland decriminalised after a free vote by Westminster MPs in July. The suspended Northern Ireland Executive did not return by 21 October 2019, meaning the amendment introduced by Stella Creasy was passed into law through The Northern Ireland (Executive Formation etc) Act 2019 on 22 October 2019.

The Abortion (Northern Ireland) Regulations 2020 came into force on 31 March 2020. The regulations introduce a new legal framework for abortion services in Northern Ireland.

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Abortion Statistics, England and Wales: 2019

Key points in 2019

Chart

210,000

200,000

Abortions, numbers, England and Wales, 2010-2019

Numbers

190,000

ASR rates per 1,000 women

180,000 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019

19

Abortions, rates, England and Wales, 2010-2019

18

17

16 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019

21 Abortions, rates, under 18 and over 35, England and Wales,

2010-2019

16

Under 18

35 or over 11

Crude rate per 1,000 women

6 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019

Percentage

Abortions, purchaser, percentages, England and Wales, 2010-2019

100

90

NHS Funded: Independent Sector

80

70

60

50

2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019

Key point

There were 207,384 abortions for women resident in England and Wales, the highest number since the Abortion Act was introduced.

The age standardised abortion rate for residents is 18.0 per 1,000 women, the highest rate since the Abortion Act was introduced.

The abortion rate for women aged under 18 is the same as in 2018 (8.1 per 1,000), but has increased for women over 35 (from 9.2 to 9.7 per 1,000 between 2018 and 2019).

99% of abortions in England & Wales were funded by the NHS in 2019, with 74% of all abortions taking place in the independent sector.

Percentage

Abortions, procedures, percentages, England and Wales, 2010-

100

2019

All surgical

All medical

60

20 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019

73% of abortions were medically induced; which increased from 71% in 2018, and increasing by 33 percentage points since 2009.

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Abortion Statistics, England and Wales: 2019

1. Introduction

1.1 This report provides statistics on abortions recorded in England and Wales in 2019. The information presented is based on abortion notification forms (HSA4) submitted by clinics and hospitals to the Chief Medical Officer (CMO) at the Department of Health & Social Care (DHSC). DHSC monitor the forms to ensure that there is full compliance with the legislation set out in the Abortion Act, 1967.

Further information

1.2 Further details on the legislative context of the Abortion Act, in addition to methodological and technical information on the data can be found in the `Guide to Abortion Statistics', in Abortion statistics for England and Wales: 2019.

Previous publications

1.3 The Department of Health & Social Care (DHSC) has published abortion statistics annually since 2002. Statistics for years from 1974 to 2001 were published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) in their Abortion Statistics Series AB, Nos 1 to 28. The reports for 1991 to 2001 are available electronically on request to abortion.statistics@.uk. Statistics for years from 1968 to 1973 were published in the Registrar General's Statistical Review of England and Wales, Supplement on Abortion.

1.4 The most recent versions of the publication are available from the GOV.UK website.

1.5 Contact us at abortion.statistics@.uk. 1.6 Abortion statistics cover the period January to December 2019 and are published

annually. The next publication will be in June 2021, and will cover January to December 2020.

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Abortion Statistics, England and Wales: 2019

2. Commentary

Unless specified, the following commentary, charts and tables relate only to abortions in England and Wales, for residents of England and Wales, in 2019.

Overall number and rate of abortions

2.1 Of the 209,519 abortions notified as taking place in England and Wales, 207,384 were to residents of England and Wales. This represents an age-standardised abortion rate (ASR) of 18.0 per 1,000 resident women aged 15-44. The ASR rate has increased since 2018, (17.4 per 1,000 resident women aged 15-44). This is the highest rate recorded, exceeding the previous peak in 2007, (17.9 abortions per 1,000 resident women aged 15-44). (Table 1 and Figure 1).

Figure 1: Age Standardised abortion rate per 1,000 women aged 15-44, England and Wales, 1970 to 2019

Age

2.2 The abortion rate in 2019 was highest for women aged 22 (at 31.6 per 1,000 women). In 2018 the highest rate was for women aged 21 (30.7 per 1,000

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Abortion Statistics, England and Wales: 2019

women), and in 2009 it was highest for women aged 19, 20 and 21 (all at 33 per 1,000 women). Figure 2: Abortion rate per 1,000 women by single year of age, England and Wales, 2009 and 2019

2.3 Abortion rates for those aged under 18 have declined over the last ten years but remained the same in 2019 as in 2018 (8.1 per 1,000). The decline since 2009 is particularly marked in the under 16 age group, where the rates have decreased from 4.0 per 1,000 women in 2009 to 1.4 per 1,000 women in 2019. The abortion rate for 18-19 year olds has also declined from 31.6 per 1,000 women to 23.8 per 1,000 women in the same period.

2.4 There has been an increase in the rates for all ages 25 and above. The largest increases in abortion rates by age are amongst women aged 30-34 which have increased from 15.7 per 1000 in 2009 to 20.9 per 1000 in 2019 (Table 3b).

Marital status

2.5 81% of abortions in 2019 were for women whose marital status was given as single, a proportion that has remained roughly constant for the last 10 years. 52%

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Abortion Statistics, England and Wales: 2019

were to women who were single with partner. This proportion has remained similar in recent years (Table 3a.v).

Ethnicity

2.6 77% of women having abortions reported their ethnicity as White, 9% as Asian, 8% as Black, 4% as Mixed and 2% as Other. Ethnicity was recorded on 97% of the forms received for 2019 (Table 3a.vi).

Area of residence within England & Wales

2.7 By region of residence, rates of abortion are highest in London (21.4 per 1,000 women aged 15-44) and lowest in the South West (14.8 per 1,000 women aged 15-44). (Figure 3).

Figure 3: Age Standardised abortion rate, per 1,000 women aged 15-44, by region in England and Wales, 2019

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