Overview
- Official figures show an 11% year-on-year rise to the highest total since the 1967 Abortion Act.
- Most procedures were early, with 89% between two and nine weeks and 87% using pills, including 72% completed at home.
- Surgical abortions increased in both 2022 and 2023 after a two-decade decline.
- Rates rose among teenagers and women aged 35 and over, with the 35+ rate reaching 12.3 per 1,000 from 7.1 in 2013.
- Fifty-four percent of those having abortions were already mothers or had a previous stillbirth, and providers urge easier access to contraception as telemedicine enables earlier care.