Government Abortion Data Released after Court Ruling
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The Department of Health has revealed the statistics about abortions in Britain since 2003 as required by the High Court after a ruling in April.
The ProLife Alliance had been campaigning for these figures since 2005, when the Government Department stopped releasing them after questions about whether a cleft lip and palate was proper justification for a late abortion in 2002.
Following decisions in favour of the ProLife Alliance by both the Information Commissioner and the Information Tribunal, the Department of Health took the issue to the High Court, where in April the appeal was rejected.
At the time, Josephine Quintavalle of the ProLife Alliance said: "This is a great victory for freedom of information and accountability and most importantly for the rights of the disabled unborn child. There is no proper mechanism for the scrutiny of abortion provision other than the meagre information provided by statistics, and these were far more detailed in 2001 than they are today, particularly in relationship to late abortions."
The statistics released today show that there were 147 late abortions carried out last year, sixty-six of which were linked to problems in the nervous system, such as spina bifida, 29 abortions were for chromosomal problems, including 10 for Down's syndrome and 10 for Edwards' syndrome and eight abortions were carried out because of musculoskeletal problems (such as club foot).
Abortions can be carried out for social reasons during the first 24 weeks, and while no late abortions were carried out for cleft lip and palate, 7 babies were aborted for this reason during the first 24 weeks.
The statistics also reveal that in 2010 3,718 abortions were carried out on girls under 16, including two twelve-year-olds. In 2002, 2005 and 2008 an 11-year old underwent an abortion.
Andrea Minichiello Williams, CEO of Christian Concern, said:
“The release of these figures paints a very sad and worrying picture. These are not just statistics but rather children who have been terminated simply because they are not completely ‘normal’.
“What does this tell us about our society, that we allow babies to be screened out who are less than perfect?
“These new data should spur us on to protect the life of the unborn, particularly those with disabilities.”
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