Editor – September 18, 2020
Almost 110,000 abortions were carried out on residents of England and Wales between January and June this year, the Government has revealed.
Figures released by the Department for Health and Social Care indicated there had been an increase of more than 4,000 on the same period last year.
In the whole of last year, 207,384 abortions were carried out on residents, but pro-life campaigners say 2020 looks “set to eclipse 2019’s total”.
The number of abortions rose sharply in April, 4,500 more than the previous year, after the Government introduced ‘DIY’ home abortions at the end of March.
Under the rules, women can take both pills required for an abortion at home up to ten weeks, following a conversation with a doctor.
There has been a subsequent uptake in medical abortions, rising from 72 per cent of all abortions between January and June 2019 to 82 per cent over the same period this year.
Right to Life UK’s Catherine Robinson called the findings a “national tragedy”.
She said: “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.
“This year we’ve come together as a nation and made great sacrifices to protect the vulnerable from Covid-19.
“Sadly, at the very same time as protecting one group of vulnerable people, we as society have also ended thousands of young vulnerable lives through abortion.”