Abortions in England and Wales have increased by 17% with a charity citing cost of living pressures as a factor.
There were 123,219 abortions carried out between January and June 2022, up from 105,488 over the same period in 2021.
The British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS), which provides abortion care, said it cannot see the rise slowing down given increased financial pressures since then, especially with interest rate hikes.
While they only account for the first half of the year women’s need for our services has only continued to increase. We cannot see this changing at as we go forward, given the impact of interest rate hikes and the huge increase in cost of living— BPAS chief executive Clare Murphy
The Bank of England raised interest rates again on Thursday, to 5% from 4.5%, amid mounting calls for the Government to do more to help in what is a deepening mortgage crisis.
Following the latest abortion figures from the Department of Health and Social Care, BPAS chief executive Clare Murphy also urged the Government to do more to “ensure that women are able to make the decisions that are right for themselves and for their families”.
She said: “These figures indicate that in 2022, the cost-of-living crisis was already having an impact on women’s pregnancy choices.
“The financial pressures on households will have forced women and their partners to make sometimes tough decisions around continuing or ending a pregnancy.”
She said unplanned pregnancies are “not always unwanted” and that many women using BPAS services say “the circumstances they are in mean it is simply not the right time to start or expand a family”.
She added: “This is reflected in the figures published today, and while they only account for the first half of the year women’s need for our services has only continued to increase.
“We cannot see this changing at as we go forward, given the impact of interest rate hikes and the huge increase in cost of living.
“We are potentially looking at very significant changes in childbearing and family size in the years to come, particularly as women choose to start their families later, limit their family size or simply decide they do not wish, or cannot afford, to have children.”
The Government can do to ensure that women are able to make the decisions that are right for themselves and for their families.— BPAS chief executive Clare Murphy
Ms Murphy said there must be better access to emergency contraception, making it available on supermarket and pharmacy shelves rather than over the counter with women having to go through “clinically unnecessary” consultations.
She said: “While there is no right number of abortions, we know that there is much more the Government can do to ensure that women are able to make the decisions that are right for themselves and for their families.
“We need contraception services that meet women’s requirements, including better access to emergency contraception as a matter of urgency.
“It makes absolutely no sense to continue to compel women to undergo a clinically unnecessary consultation which acts as nothing but a barrier to her getting what she needs as quickly as possible.
“It needs to be available on the shelf of pharmacies and supermarkets.
“We also need to recognise that existing methods all have limitations and there is an urgent need for research and development into new methods.
“No contraceptive method however will ever negate the need for swift, accessible abortion care and BPAS is committed to provide kind, compassionate care to every woman who needs us, whenever that may be.”
