What’s driving the huge rise in abortions?

Britain is experiencing a crisis of motherhood.

Ann Furedi
2nd February 2026

There has been a significant rise in the number of abortions carried out in England and Wales over the past few years. According to government statistics published at the start of the year, abortions increased by 11 per cent in 2023 compared with 2022. This follows on from a 17 per cent increase in abortions in 2022 compared with 2021.

It’s true that abortion numbers have been climbing steadily since the mid-1990s. But it certainly looks as if the numbers have risen sharply in the 2020s. Despite some attempts to play these figures down, this is a hugely significant increase.

Continued; https://www.spiked-online.com/2026/02/02/whats-driving-the-huge-rise-in-abortions/

02.02.2026

Opinion

Ann Furedi

contraception myths

fear of contraception

increase in abortion rates

Why Are So Many British Women Getting Abortions?

New government figures suggest that, amid a fertility slump, there has been a sharp rise in abortions in the UK. Our reporter speaks to the women who can explain why.

By Kara Kennedy
01.29.26

Gemma is 28, British, and recovering from an abortion she had just over a month ago. She was far enough along—a few days shy of five months—that she had to be admitted to the hospital. She would have preferred to end the pregnancy earlier—but she didn’t know about it, even after getting checked out by a doctor after suffering from fatigue.

“I was still having periods. I wasn’t gaining weight. I was going to the doctor and getting blood tests, and nobody ever told me I was pregnant,” she told me.

Continued: https://www.thefp.com/p/why-are-so-many-british-women-getting

29.01.2026

Commentary

Abortion Act 1967

Ann Furedi

British Pregnancy Advisory Service

hormonal contraceptive

What Republicans get wrong about abortion

Their anti-abortion crusade threatens liberty, privacy and the family – values they claim to care about.

ANN FUREDI
8th February 2024

Who would have thought that in 2024, more than half a century after abortion became safe and legal throughout most of the Western world, it would become one of the key issues of the US presidential election? And who would have thought that Democratic politicians would feel the need to embark on a ‘Fight for Reproductive Freedoms Tour’ across the country? Last month, vice-president Kamala Harris launched the tour at an event in Wisconsin, promising to ‘embrace [the issue of abortion] to the full’.

To most outside observers, it’s astonishing that this fight for reproductive rights is still ongoing in the US. Pro-choice optimists might reasonably have expected this issue to have been resolved during Barack Obama’s presidency, when the pro-choice Democrats last had a majority in both houses of congress. But his administration failed to pass any federal legislation to protect abortion. Instead, he chose to rely on the limited protections granted by the 1973 Supreme Court ruling on Roe v Wade, which was overturned by conservative justices in 2022.

Continued: https://www.spiked-online.com/2024/02/08/what-republicans-get-wrong-about-abortion/

08.02.2024

UK – Let’s keep sending pills by post

During the pandemic women were allowed to take abortion pills at home. This must continue.

ANN FUREDI
2nd February 2022

The Covid crisis, and everything it meant for the NHS, delivered one excellent change for women: abortion pills by post following an online consultation and counselling with a doctor. Exactly a year ago, the government held a public consultation on whether providing this medication by post should continue when the pandemic ends. The approach taken by the British Pregnancy Advisory Service in its response to the consultation, in which BPAS clearly outlined the benefits of pills by post, was mirrored by every healthcare organisation.

And yet now, leaks from officials in the Department of Health and Social Care suggest the health secretary plans to remove the regulations allowing telemedicine services for abortion. This would be nothing less than a retreat from reason.

Continued: https://www.spiked-online.com/2022/02/02/lets-keep-sending-pills-by-post/

Opinion – Only women have abortions

Womanhood is a question of material reality, not identity.

Ann Furedi
30th September 2021

Following a barrage of criticism, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has apologised for revising an iconic speech by the late Supreme Court justice, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, to fit with today’s woke-speak.

At RBG’s confirmation hearing in 1993, a time when anti-choice activism was rife in the US, she was asked about her position on abortion. She did not mince her words:

Continued: https://www.spiked-online.com/2021/09/30/only-women-have-abortions/

30.09.2021

Featured

Opinion

American Civil Liberties Union

Ann Furedi

patriarchal society

Ruth Bader Ginsburg

transgender healthcare

transgender rights

Global

UK – Heidi Carter should not judge pregnant women’s decisions

Aborting a fetus with Down’s syndrome says nothing about how society views disabled people. It is a matter of choice.

ANN FUREDI, Spiked
9th July 2021

Heidi Carter is a talented and able young woman. She also has Down’s syndrome. This week she launched a legal challenge which, if successful, would lower the time limit for abortions when there is a high risk of serious disability. Carter believes that it is morally wrong for any woman to decide to end her pregnancy to avoid the birth of a child with disabilities or genetic conditions.

In 2020, almost 300 women who had abortions stated Down’s syndrome as the primary reason. For these women, and for others where a serious fetal anomaly is indicated, there is no time limit. Heidi Carter believes this is offensive to people with disabilities – and she is entitled to hold that view. As a person with a disability she has insight into what it feels like to have that disability. But it gives her no authority to stand in judgement on pregnant women’s decisions.

Continued: https://www.spiked-online.com/2021/07/09/heidi-carter-should-not-judge-pregnant-womens-decisions/

09.07.2021

Featured

Opinion

Ann Furedi

disability and abortion

Down Syndrome

Heidi Carter

serious fetal abnormality

Europe

United Kingdom

Human Rights

British provider to post abortion pills to ensure Northern Irish women have access during pandemic

British provider to post abortion pills to ensure Northern Irish women have access during pandemic
It said that under Northern Irish law it was only legally permitted to provide abortion for the purpose of preventing grave, permanent injury to the woman's physical or mental health

Amanda Ferguson, Reuters
April 9, 2020

BELFAST — Britain’s leading provider of abortions said it will offer abortion pills to women in Northern Ireland by post to avoid them having to travel to England by ferry now that the coronavirus pandemic has closed air traffic.

Although abortion was decriminalized in Northern Ireland last year, it remains unavailable in the British region after the local health ministry missed an April 1 deadline to begin providing terminations.

Continued: https://nationalpost.com/news/world/british-provider-to-post-abortion-pills-to-ensure-n-irish-women-have-access

Abortion provision thrown into doubt by coronavirus pandemic

Abortion provision thrown into doubt by coronavirus pandemic

By Laura Smith-Spark, Valentina Di Donato and Stephanie Halasz, CNN
March 27, 2020

London (CNN)As the coronavirus pandemic sweeps the globe, women's access to abortion is one of many healthcare provisions thrown into jeopardy.

The UK government caused confusion this week when it first announced that women would temporarily be allowed to access early medical abortion at home, rather than attending a clinic -- and then, hours later, reversed its decision.

Continued: https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/27/health/coronavirus-abortion-access-intl/index.html

Coronavirus is making abortion access more difficult in the UK

Coronavirus is making abortion access more difficult in the UK

By Rachel Thompson
March 25, 2020

The UK is now under lockdown. Britons are only permitted to leave their homes for food, health reasons, or work (if it's not possible to be done from home) in a bid to slow the spread of the new coronavirus (COVID-19).

Abortion services in the UK are under considerable strain as a result of the coronavirus outbreak. Women with severe health issues who've been advised to self-isolate say they're being forced to choose between risking their health by leaving their house and continuing with an unwanted pregnancy that could imperil their health, according to the British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS).

Continued: https://mashable.com/article/coronavirus-abortion-access-uk/

What’s been happening in Ireland & International Women’s Day in Norway

FEATURE: What's been happening in Ireland & International Women’s Day in Norway

International Campaign for Women's Right to Safe Abortion
18 March 2019

Introduction
In the midst of the continuing shower of news from all over the world that I share with you, I’ve been collecting stories for a feature on Ireland. This is not a definitive piece, that will come from those who have been on the frontlines, but is based primarily on written information from a few key people and what has been in the media. This history describes an almost unique series of events, and one worth learning from. It’s a story of optimism winning over pessimism, of passionate positive action breaking down out-of-date barriers, and particularly of women’s personal stories, doorstep advocacy, highly visible supportive doctors and policymakers, all working with government to change the mindset of a nation and win a critical mass of support. They successfully created a sea-change in law, policy and service delivery in the blink of an eye. Edited by Marge Berer

The story in a nutshell
It took only seven months from the referendum that repealed the 8th Amendment to the Constitution in May 2018 for the law to be changed, providers trained, methods approved and ordered, and abortion services to become available officially in Ireland on 2 January 2019, free for everyone who is covered by existing schemes, such as the Maternity and Infant Care Scheme.

Continued: https://mailchi.mp/safeabortionwomensright/feature-whats-been-happening-in-ireland-international-womens-day-in-norway-18-march-2019?e=372dd34034