Regan King comments on the horrific destruction of life shown by the latest abortion statistics for England and Wales, released by the Department of Health. He says: "Children [have become] commodities of personal convenience and choice and so can be summarily aborted if conditions are considered 'less than ideal'".
Abortion statistics have been released for England and Wales from 2016.
The figures make for grim reading. 190,406 abortions were carried out in England and Wales alone last year. The only consolation in the stats is that this overall figure falls slightly lower than the 191,014 abortions carried out in 2015. 98% of these abortions were NHS funded and 38% were for women who had previously had one or more abortions.
4,810 abortions procured in England and Wales were by women not currently resident in England and Wales. This statistic excludes Scottish figures, which tip the total over 200,000. Extrapolating, over 1,000,000 babies are aborted every 5 years in the United Kingdom.
3208 abortions were carried out under 'ground E', that is that the child would born'seriously handicapped'. Serious handicap under ground E includes pre-born infants with cleft lip or palate. While it could be argued that these conditions are treatable and so should in no case fall under ground E, that would miss the ultimate point. Suppose that no fix was available for a child with cleft lip or palate? Does a cleft lip make someone less human? Does a cleft palate exclude someone from the right to life as any other person? Do infants born with cleft lip or palate have no place in a civilised society?
Also falling under ground E are pre-born infants with Down's Syndrome. There has been a heart-breaking 46% increase in abortion of preborn Down's infants since 2010. 706 were aborted in 2016 simply because they had screened positively for Down's Syndrome. The common idea that seeks to justify such abortions based on the idea that the child will have a poor quality of life is without any grounding in reality. People with Down's Syndrome have been called 'the happiest people in the world' and statistics back this up with 99% indicating happiness with their lives. And yet, with increases in public funding for Down's screening, the abortion rate will likely increase.
The latest statistics continue to highlight the real problems behind abortion in the UK. Sex with no boundaries or consequences is a god to our society. Some do not desire children and see abortion as in the same category as any non-abortifacient form of birth control as indicated by the 70,526 abortions carried out last year on women who had previously aborted a child. Others do desire children, but only if their terms and conditions of self-defined 'normal-ness' of the child and its health are met. For both, children are commodities of personal convenience and choice and so can be summarily aborted if conditions are considered 'less than ideal'.
The massacre of infants because of perceived disability or deformity is nothing new. The ancient Spartans would abandon disabled and deformed babies or throw them off from cliffs. Most would look at this practice as savage and evil, but miss the connection between the Spartan practice and abortion under ground E today. Today's destruction of infants may occur in more sterile circumstances than in ancient times, but it not any less brutal and is equally sinful.
This must change. It would be easy to let these statistics simply deaden our consciences and make us feel low. But here are three ways you can be part of the culture of life:
1. Pray. Pray that God would have mercy on our nation for its shedding of innocent blood. Pray for the mothers who feel they have no choice but to abort their children; that they would choose life. Pray for our culture, that we would want to save life, not destroy it.
2. Speak. Speak up about abortion. Bring it into the light. Tell those in your church or family about the reality of abortion and the sheer agony of our cultural situation.
3. Act. Get involved in helping women. Contact Abort67 or 40 Days for Life and see how you can be involved in their advocacy. Most of all, if you are aware of or involved in any local crisis pregnancy counselling centres that refuse to refer for abortion, please contact us.
Together we can bring God's culture of life to our nation.
Related Links:
Abortion statistics 2017 (Gov UK)
Majority want abortion time limit reduced, poll shows
Exposing abortion by marching for life | Regan King
New abortion figures a tragedy