Health officials discuss possible 6,500 abortions per year in Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland’s health authorities have discussed the idea that abortions in the Province could reach 6,500 per year, now that the law has been relaxed.
An NHS image of a foetus at a late stage of gestation; the new abortion framework brought in during spring allows for abortion up until the point of birth in Northern Ireland (though such cases may well prove relatively rare)An NHS image of a foetus at a late stage of gestation; the new abortion framework brought in during spring allows for abortion up until the point of birth in Northern Ireland (though such cases may well prove relatively rare)
An NHS image of a foetus at a late stage of gestation; the new abortion framework brought in during spring allows for abortion up until the point of birth in Northern Ireland (though such cases may well prove relatively rare)

The figure is found in the notes of a meeting involving officials from Northern Ireland’s Health and Social Care Board held last December.

It would be equivalent to roughly three months’ worth of births in Northern Ireland – although the Department of Health has stressed this is just an “extreme” scenario.

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The meeting took place just a couple of months after abortion was decriminalised in NI (but before the new abortion framework was drawn up in spring allowing, in theory, for abortion up to birth).

The meeting notes were obtained via a Freedom of Information request from anti-abortion group the Centre for Bioethical Reform (CBR).

They relate to a discussion among health officials about how many abortions they would need to cater for in NI.

The document says initial estimates are based on “a working assumption that the 1,053 women (believed to be an underrepresentation) who travelled to England in 2018 would have stayed if accessible and confidential service was available here”.

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The notes add: “Service needs to be scaleable (if service take-up reaches Scotland levels could mean 4,500 terminations per year in NI. If we reach England and Wales levels that figure could be 6,500).”

Every quarter in Northern Ireland, there are roughly between 5,000 and 6,000 births – making for a total of around 22,500 last year.

Based on the number of women who go to England and Wales for abortions, the News Letter calculates that around 4.3% of NI pregnancies result in abortion.

This is undoubtedly an underestimate though, because some women will have had abortions in Scotland – plus many others will take abortion pills at home; so obviously do not show up in official records.

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In England and Wales abortion rates are now at their highest since the Abortion Act was passed in 1967.

There were 209,519 terminations in 2019, meaning just under 25% of all pregnancies ended in abortion.

Questioned about the idea of 6,500 annual abortions taking place in Northern Ireland, the Department of Health said: “The figure quoted is not a prediction. “The document clearly states the initial planning assumption to be around 1,000 terminations each year.

“The figures queried are extreme planning assumptions to illustrate that a full service would have to be scalable.”

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Meanwhile, Alliance for Choice, a group which lobbies in favour of access to abortion, said: “It is a fact that globally, one in four pregnancies will end in termination and NI is no exception in that regard.

“What is critical is that women and pregnant people get full access to the abortion healthcare they require at the point of need without any form of obstruction and in a social climate that is free from abortion stigma...

“What is actually an ‘extreme scenario’ is the fact that despite a regulatory framework for abortion now existing in Northern Ireland, too many women and pregnant people are being forced to travel within Northern Ireland and some to England.

“Both the Department for Health and the Minister for Health should recognise that this is wholly unacceptable and commission abortion services without the delay and obstruction we have witnessed since the framework was introduced in April 2020.”

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Its reference to “women and pregnant people” is because the group believes that men (and “non-binary” people) can also get pregnant.

READ MORE FORM THE NEWS LETTER:

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