Abortion rate hits record high among under 16s

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The abortion rate is rising fastest among the youngest girls, as reported in the Independent. Each week in 2007, 84 children under 16 in England and Wales had abortions; three were under 14.

The annual total for under-16 abortions was up 10 per cent to 4,376. Among under-14s it was up 21 per cent. Abortions among women of all ages in England and Wales rose 2.5 per cent to 198,499.

The record figures were attacked by anti-abortion organisations, which demanded tighter restrictions on the procedure. An attempt by MPs to cut the upper time limit from 24 to 22 weeks failed in the House of Commons last month.

Experts remain baffled by the rising trend, which has defied improvements in contraception, family planning services and sex education.

The rise comes as conceptions among teenagers fell. In the 10 years to 2006 conceptions among under-16s fell from 8,900 to 7,800, but of those, abortions rose from 49 to 60 per cent.

Anne Furedi of BPAS, formerly the British Pregnancy Advisory Service, said: "Today, there is a greater expectation that families will be planned. We should stop seeing abortion as a problem when it is a solution to the problem of unwanted pregnancy."

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