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Who has abortions?
In 2006, the total number of abortions carried out for women resident in England and Wales was 193,700.Women between the ages of 20 and 30 had the greatest number of conceptions and abortions.
Women of 19 and under and women of 40 and over ended a higher proportion of pregnancies in abortion than women between 20 and 29.
| Age of women | Number of abortions | Number of abortions as a percentage of all abortions |
| All ages | 193,737 | - |
| Under 16 | 3,990 | 2.05 |
| 16-17 | 14,629 | 7.55 |
| 18-19 | 22,667 | 11.70 |
| 20-24 | 55,340 | 28.56 |
| 25-29 | 40,396 | 20.85 |
| 30-34 | 28,153 | 14.53 |
| 35-39 | 20,074 | 10.36 |
| 40 and over | 8,488 | 4.38 |
Age of women | Number of conceptions | Percentage of conceptions ending in abortion (2005) |
| All ages | 841,900 | 22.14 |
| Under 20 | 102,300 | 38.22 |
| 20-24 | 185,500 | 28.73 |
| 25-29 | 211,300 | 18.13 |
| 30-34 | 209,200 | 13.29 |
| 35 and over | 133,600 | 20.81 |
(Figures from table above from Office of National Statistics www.statistics.gov.uk)
When are women having abortions?
89% of abortions are carried out within the first 12 weeks of pregnancy.
1262 abortions (less than 0.7% of all abortions) were carried out after 22 weeks.
Women under 20 have a disproportionately high number of later abortions.
| Stage of pregnancy | Number of abortions carried out at this stage | Abortions carried out at this stage as a percentage of all abortions |
| 0-9 weeks | 131,041 | 67.64 |
| 10-12 weeks | 41,831 | 21.60 |
| 13-19 weeks | 17,971 | 9.28 |
| 20 weeks and over | 2,948 | 1.52 |
On what grounds are women having abortions?
A majority (96.90%) of all abortions were carried out under ground C – ‘the continuance of the pregnancy would involve risk, greater than if the pregnancy were terminated, of injury to the physical or mental health of the pregnant woman’
| Legal grounds for abortion | Number of abortions carried out on these grounds | Number of abortions carried out on these grounds as a percentage of all abortions |
| A the continuance of the pregnancy would involve risk to the life of the pregnant woman greater than if the pregnancy were terminated | 149 | 0.08 |
| B the termination is necessary to prevent grave permanent injury to the physical or mental health of the pregnant woman | 1,059 | 0.55 |
| C the continuance of the pregnancy would involve risk, greater than if the pregnancy were terminated, of injury to the physical or mental health of the pregnant woman | 187,740 | 96.90 |
| D the continuance of the pregnancy would involve risk, greater than if the pregnancy were terminated, of injury to the physical or mental health of any existing child(ren) of the family of the pregnant woman | 2,753 | 1.42 |
| E there is a substantial risk that if the child were born it would suffer from such physical or mental abnormalities as to be seriously handicapped | 2,036 | 1.05 |
In an emergency, certified by one doctor as necessary: F to save the life of the pregnant woman, or G to prevent grave permanent injury to the physical or mental health of the pregnant woman. | 0 | 0.00 |
87% of abortions are paid for by the National Health Service and carried out in NHS hospitals or in clinics that have a contract to provide NHS funded abortions.
13% of abortions are paid for privately either by women travelling from overseas, women who have chosen to go private in order to wait a shorter time, women who have chosen to go private in order to have a larger choice of procedures and anaesthetics, and women who have found it impossible to get an NHS-funded abortion.
Data from the Department of Health for 2006 unless otherwise stated www.dh.gov.uk
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