BECOMING pregnant can be life-changing – but for some people it’s not always a happy moment.
In 2020, there were 209,917 reported abortions. The number of women choosing to have the procedure is increasing.
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In women aged 30-34, abortions have increased the most, from 16.5 per cent per 1,000 in 2010 to 21.9 in 2020.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS), most recent data, states that 55% of pregnancies ended in women 35-39.
A third of pregnancies ended in terminations for women over 40.
However, 37% of unmarried women over 40 were pregnant and had their babies aborted. This compares to 25% of those who were married and have their babies aborted.
Heidi Crowter is who?
Today Heidi Crowter, 26, from Coventry along with other campaigners, lost their legal battle against the government.
Heidi, a Down’s Syndrome sufferer, had taken her fight with the Department of Health and Social Care all the way to the High Court. She claimed that the 1967 Abortion Act didn’t respect her life.
Crowter and other claimants sought to have a portion of the Abortion Act deleted.
The legislation allows abortions in England and Wales within the first 24 hours of pregnancy.
But the Act allows for abortions to take place up until birth if 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”, which includes Down’s syndrome.
Lawyers for the Down’s syndrome campaigners argued in a two-day High Court hearing in July argued the law is unlawfully discriminatory and incompatible with the European Convention on Human Rights.
Crowter, speaking outside court at the time of the hearing said: “I am someone who has Down’s syndrome and I find it extremely offensive that a law doesn’t respect my life, and I won’t stand for it.
“I want to change the law and I want to challenge people’s perception of Down’s syndrome. I want them to look at me and say ‘this is just a normal person’.
“That’s what this is about. It’s about telling people that we’re just humans with feelings.”
The US is also scrutinizing abortion laws after Uma Thurman disclosed that she had to end a pregnancy.
The actress, 51, said it was her “darkest
What countries have made abortion illegal? What other restrictions do you have?
These are places where there are restrictions on abortion
Afghanistan – To save a woman’s life
Albania – No restriction
Algeria – To preserve physical/mental health
Andorra – Prohibited altogether
Angola – Prohibited altogether
Antigua and Barbuda – To save a woman’s life
Argentina – To preserve physical health
Armenia – No restriction
Australia – No restriction
Austria – No restriction
Azerbaijan – No restriction
Bahamas – To preserve physical health
Bahrain – No restriction
Bangladesh – To save a woman’s life
Barbados – To preserve health/on socioeconomic grounds
Belarus – No restriction
Belgium – No restriction
Belize – To preserve health/on socioeconomic grounds
Benin – To preserve physical health
Bhutan – To save a woman’s life
Bolivia – To preserve physical health
Bosnia and Herzegovina – No restriction
Botswana – To preserve physical/mental health
Brazil – To save a woman’s life
Bulgaria – No restriction
Burkina Faso – To preserve physical health
Burundi – To preserve physical health
Cambodia – No restriction
Cameroon -To preserve physical health
Canada – No restriction
Cape Verde – No restriction
Central African Republic– To preserve physical health
Chad – To preserve physical health
Chile – To save a woman’s life
Colombia – To preserve physical/mental health
Comoro – To preserve physical health
Costa Rica – To preserve physical health
Croatia – No restriction
Cuba – No restriction
Cyprus – To preserve health/on socioeconomic grounds
Czech Republic – No restriction
Denmark – No restriction
Djibouti – To preserve physical health
Dominica– To save a woman’s life
Dominican Republic – Prohibited altogether
DR Congo – Prohibited altogether
Ecuador – To preserve physical health
Egypt – Prohibited altogether
El Salvador – Prohibited altogether
Equatorial Guinea – To preserve physical health
Eritrea – To preserve physical/mental health
Estonia – No restriction
Eswatini – To preserve physical/mental health
Ethiopia – To preserve physical health
Fiji – To preserve health/on socioeconomic grounds
Finland – To preserve health/on socioeconomic grounds
France – No restriction
Gabon – Prohibited altogether
Gambia – To preserve physical/mental health
Germany – No restriction
Ghana – To preserve physical/mental health
Greece – No restriction
Grenada – To preserve physical health
Guatemala – To save a woman’s life
Guinea – To preserve physical health
Guyana – No restriction
Haiti – Prohibited altogether
Honduras – Prohibited altogether
Hong Kong – To preserve health/on socioeconomic grounds
Hungary – No restriction
Iceland – To preserve health/on socioeconomic grounds
India – To preserve health/on socioeconomic grounds
Indonesia – To save a woman’s life
Iran – To save a woman’s life
Iraq – Prohibited altogether
Ireland – To save a woman’s life
Israel – To preserve physical/mental health
Italy – No restriction
Ivory Coast – To save a woman’s life
Jamaica – To preserve physical/mental health
Japan – To preserve health/on socioeconomic grounds
Jordan – To preserve physical health
Kazakhstan – No restriction
Kenya – To preserve physical health
Kiribati – To save a woman’s life
Kuwait – To preserve physical health
Kyrgyzstan – No restriction
Laos – Prohibited altogether
Latvia – No restriction
Lebanon – To save a woman’s life
Lesotho – To preserve physical health
Liberia – To preserve physical/mental health
Libya – To save a woman’s life
Liechtenstein – To preserve physical health
Lithuania – No restriction
Luxembourg – No restriction
Madagascar – Prohibited altogether
Malawi – To save a woman’s life
Malaysia – To preserve physical/mental health
Maldives – To preserve physical health
Mali – To save a woman’s life
Malta – Prohibited altogether
Marshall Islands – Prohibited altogether
Mauritania – Prohibited altogether
Mauritius – To preserve physical/mental health
Mexico – To save a woman’s life
Micronesia – Prohibited altogether
Moldova – No restriction
Monaco – To preserve physical health
Mongolia – No restriction
Montenegro – No restriction
Morocco – To preserve physical health
Mozambique – To preserve physical/mental health
Myanmar – To save a woman’s life
Namibia – To preserve physical/mental health
Nauru – To preserve physical/mental health
Nepal – No restriction
Netherlands – No restriction
New Zealand – To preserve physical/mental health
Nicaragua – Prohibited altogether
Niger – To preserve physical health
Nigeria – To save a woman’s life
North Korea – No restriction
North Macedonia – No restriction
Norway – No restriction
Oman – To save a woman’s life
Pakistan – To preserve physical health
Palau – Prohibited altogether
Panama – To save a woman’s life
Papua New Guinea – To save a woman’s life
Paraguay– To save a woman’s life
Peru – To preserve physical health
Philippines – Prohibited altogether
Poland – To preserve physical health
Portugal – No restriction
Qatar – To preserve physical health
Republic of the Congo – Prohibited altogether
Romania – No restriction
Russia – No restriction
Rwanda – To preserve physical health
Saint Kitts and Nevis – To preserve physical/mental health
Saint Lucia – To preserve physical/mental health
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines – To preserve health/on socioeconomic grounds
Samoa – To preserve physical/mental health
San Marino – Prohibited altogether
Sao Tome and Principe – Prohibited altogether
Saudi Arabia – To preserve physical health
Senegal – Prohibited altogether
Serbia – No restriction
Seychelles – To preserve physical/mental health
Sierra Leone – To preserve physical/mental health
Singapore – No restriction
Slovakia – No restriction
Slovenia – No restriction
Solomon Islands – To save a woman’s life
Somalia – To save a woman’s life
South Africa – No restriction
South Korea – To preserve physical health
South Sudan – To save a woman’s life
Spain – No restriction
Sri Lanka – To save a woman’s life
Sudan – To save a woman’s life
Suriname– Prohibited altogether
Sweden – No restriction
Switzerland – No restriction
Syria – To save a woman’s life
Taiwan – To preserve health/on socioeconomic grounds
Tajikistan – No restriction
Tanzania – To save a woman’s life
Thailand – To preserve physical/mental health
Timor-Leste – To save a woman’s life
Togo – To preserve physical health
Tonga – Prohibited altogether
Trinidad and Tobago – To preserve physical/mental health
Tunisia – No restriction
Turkey – No restriction
Turkmenistan – No restriction
Tuvalu – To save a woman’s life
Uganda – To save a woman’s life
Ukraine – No restriction
United Arab Emirates – To save a woman’s life
United Kingdom – To preserve health/on socioeconomic grounds
United States – No restriction
Uruguay – No restriction
Uzbekistan – No restriction
Vanuatu – To preserve physical health
Venezuela – To save a woman’s life
Vietnam – No restriction
Yemen – To save a woman’s life
Zambia – To preserve health/on socioeconomic grounds
Zimbabwe – To preserve physical health
secret” in an op-ed for theWashington Postcriticising the much maligned Texas anti-abortion law.
What is the legal status of abortion in the UK?
Since 1967, abortion is legal in England, Scotland, and Wales.
A licensed medical professional (a doctor), must perform the termination. It must also be approved by two additional doctors.
The UK has the right to refuse to approve your abortion if they have moral objections to it. This can mean you need to see more doctors than two to get the signatures.
The Abortion Regulations 2020 in Northern Ireland allow abortions for up to 12 weeks of gestation.
Alabama, the US state, passed strict anti-abortion legislation on May 2019.
If you are interested in an abortion, what criteria must be met?
In order to be eligible for a termination one (or more) of the following conditions must be met:
- That the pregnancy has not exceeded 24 weeks
- The continuation of the pregnancy would involve risk to the life of the pregnant woman, more so than a termination
- There is a substantial risk that if the child is born they would suffer mental or physical abnormalities
- That the abortion is necessary to prevent permanent injury to the physical or mental health of the pregnant woman
Is it illegal to terminate due to financial/social needs or based on gender?
A woman may want an abortion for a variety of reasons.
These can be due to financial, career, and relationship uncertainty.
Clare Murphy, of the British Pregnancy Advisory Service toldThe Times: “There are a variety of reasons why women are choosing to delay motherhood and have smaller families.
“These include financial instability, desire to progress at work, and the ever-increasing cost of raising a child.”
Further data showed that 18,000 more babies were conceived in 2019 than in the previous year – the biggest decrease in a decade.
According to ONS data, most of the decrease was due to a drastic drop in teenage pregnancies.
How can you obtain an abortion?
Only licensed medical practitioners can perform abortions that are legal and as safe as possible.
There are three main ways to do this free of charge through the NHS:
During the coronavirus pandemic, hundreds of women were able to get abortions at home in the US.
Before the outbreak, the trend towards telemedicine abortion was growing in the US. However, access to care was restricted by some states, and many clinics were forced to close.
The program sends women – who must be 10 weeks pregnant or less – abortion pills by mail to take on their own, after a video consultation with a certified doctor.
What’s next?
A consultation is required to discuss the details and make a decision before an abortion can be performed.
Generally, there are two options:
- A medical abortion – you take two medications 24 to 48 hours apart to induce a miscarriage
- Surgical abortion – you have a minor procedure to end the pregnancy and go home soon after
What are the potential risks of having an abortion?
If performed early in the pregnancy, abortions are safer.
Most women won’t experience any problems and having a termination will not affect future fertility.
There are however risks, such as:
- Infection of the womb
- Excessive bleeding
- Damage to the womb or the entrance (cervix)