-- Press Release --

Press Release: Nearly 1 in 4 babies conceived aborted in 2018 - Horrifying new British Statistics must serve as a "stark warning" for Northern Ireland's Politicians

Date: 06/03/2020

Conception statistics released by the Office of National Statistics yesterday (Thursday 5th March 2019) show that nearly a quarter of pregnancies among English and Welsh residents ended in abortion in 2018 – an increase from the already catastrophic figure of 1 in 5 previously recorded and the highest proportion since records began in 1990.

Precious Life say the "horrifying" new statistics must serve as a “stark warning” for Northern Ireland’s politicians who have the power to repeal radical new abortion legislation through the Stormont Assembly.

Bernadette Smyth of Precious Life said, “These appalling statistics must serve as a stark warning for our politicians at Stormont. It’s irrefutable that when a country legalises abortion, it becomes sold to the public as a necessary evil, and then, as these statistics show it becomes a form of birth control.

"1 in 4 pregnancies are now ended in the death of an unborn child, and 40% of abortions carried out are now repeat abortions.  Our politicians need to look at the rising death toll just across the water and act now to protect the lives of unborn babies and their mothers.”

The British Office for National Statistics said yesterday this was the highest proportion since records began in 1990. The astonishing figures revealed that, in 2018, there were 839,043 conceptions for English and Welsh residents and 200,608 abortions.

The figures come as the Government plan for the implementation of legal abortion in Northern Ireland by 31st March 2020, following the imposition of abortion here through the passing of radical abortion amendments.

Director of Precious Life, Bernadette Smyth said:

"These numbers are heartbreaking. One in every four unborn babies now have their lives brutally ended through abortion in England and Wales, which is a truly horrifying reality we all have a duty to address. These statistics represent a failure towards women in unplanned pregnancies. This is not only a national crisis, but a national tragedy, and serious questions must be asked about why such a huge proportion of women are having abortions."

She also referred to Precious Life’s new ‘Repeal Section 9’ Campaign and urged pro-life people to start lobbying their elected representatives to repeal radical new abortion legislation.

“We have launched our ‘Repeal Section 9’ Campaign, which calls on our elected representatives in the Northern Ireland Assembly to REPEAL Section 9 of the Northern Ireland (Executive Formation etc) Act 2019 and restore full legal protection for all unborn babies in Northern Ireland. Thousands of petitions have been signed so far, and hundreds of people are helping us with this Campaign across Northern Ireland. We will continue to lobby tirelessly for the restoration of our pro-life laws and we will be calling for an injection of government funds in pregnancy resource centres across Northern Ireland.

“With the over-due return of Stormont, we are doing everything we can to stop these horrifying statistics becoming a reality in Northern Ireland. Politicians at Stormont must look at the shocking death toll from abortion in Britain and act now to protect the lives of unborn babies and mothers here before it’s too late.

“The only practical, authentically compassionate answer to an unplanned pregnancy is to provide a service which loves and cares for both, mother and baby. Our work will not stop until every baby in Northern Ireland is protected and every woman in a crisis pregnancy is empowered to reject the violence of abortion and choose life,” concluded Bernadette Smyth.

-- ENDS --