Number of Women Giving Irish Addresses at UK Abortion Clinics Decreases for Eighth Year in a Row According to Department of Health UK
HSE Sexual Health & Crisis Pregnancy Programme statistics show a decline in the number of women giving Irish addresses at abortion clinics in the Netherlands
25th May 2010 – The HSE Sexual Health & Crisis Pregnancy Programme (formerly the Crisis Pregnancy Agency) today commented on figures issued by the UK Department of Health, which show that there has, for the eighth successive year, been a decrease in the number of women giving Irish addresses at UK abortion clinics.
Since 2001 (the year the Crisis Pregnancy Agency was established), the number of women giving Irish addresses at UK abortion clinics has decreased from 6,673 to 4,422 in 2009. There was also a decline in the number of women giving Irish addresses at abortion clinics in the Netherlands in 2009. Statistics gathered by the HSE Sexual Health & Crisis Pregnancy Programme show that the number of women giving Irish addresses at clinics in the Netherlands fell from 351 in 2008 to 134 in 2009.
Speaking today, Caroline Spillane, Director of the HSE Sexual Health & Crisis Pregnancy Programme said: “Over the past eight years we have seen a sustained decline in the number of women giving Irish addresses at abortion clinics in the UK. The Sexual Health & Crisis Pregnancy Programme along with many other organisations working in the area of sexual health have given strategic focus to initiatives aimed at preventing crisis pregnancy and also to improving the supports which are in place for those who do experience a crisis pregnancy. We hope that these statistics are an indication that this work is having a real impact in reducing the instance of crisis pregnancy in Ireland.”
Year/ No of women giving Irish addresses at UK abortion clinics/ Rate per thousand women 15-44 years (UK)
2001/ 6,673/ 7.5
2002/ 6,522/ 7.2
2003/ 6,320/ 6.9
2004/ 6,217/ 6.7
2005/ 5,585/ 5.9
2006/ 5,042/ 5.2
2007/ 4,686/ 4.7
2008/ 4,600/ 4.5
2009/ 4,422/ 4.4
Year/ No of women giving Irish addresses at Netherlands abortion clinics/ No of women giving Irish addresses at abortion clinics in both the UK and Netherlands/ Rate per thousand women 15-44 yrs (UK+NL)
2005/ 42/ 5,627/ 5.9
2006/ 461/ 5,503/ 5.6
2007/ 451/ 5,137/ 5.1
2008/ 351*/ 4,951/ 4.9
2009/ 134**/ 4,556/ 4.5
Since 2001, the abortion rate of women giving Irish addresses at abortion clinics has declined from 7.5 per 1,000 women aged 15-44 (UK only) to 4.5 per 1,000 women aged 15-44 in 2009 (UK and Netherlands statistics). The Sexual Health & Crisis Pregnancy Programme gathers statistics to examine the patterns of women travelling from Ireland to countries other than the UK for abortion procedures. The Netherlands has emerged as the only other jurisdiction to which women from Ireland are travelling for abortion procedures in significant numbers.
Ms Spillane added: “The abortion rate has dropped across all age groups since our establishment in 2001, particularly among teenagers and women in their 20s. Our focus will remain on utilising this data along with other sexual health research to reduce the number of women experiencing crisis pregnancy and to tailor supports for those who do have a crisis pregnancy.”
*This figure of 351 has been revised upwards from 330 (compared with a press release issued in May 2009) in light of additional information received from abortion clinics in the Netherlands.
** The figure of 134 is preliminary, but the final figure is unlikely to be significantly different.
ENDS
For more information contact:
Lorna Farren
HSE Sexual Health & Crisis Pregnancy Programme
01-8146292
087-6289831
Notes to Editors:
1. It is important to note that the anonymity of the women giving Irish addresses is protected – it is only the numbers of women giving Irish addresses that are recorded in the statistics from the UK Department of Health.
2. The Sexual Health & Crisis Pregnancy Programme has developed a monitoring system to examine the number of women giving Irish addresses at abortion clinics in jurisdictions other than the UK. It continues to monitor data from elsewhere in Europe. The numbers remain low with few women reported to have travelled to other countries.
3. The HSE Sexual Health & Crisis Pregnancy Programme (formerly the Crisis Pregnancy Agency) is tasked with developing and implementing a national strategy to achieve the following core objectives:
i. To reduce the number of crisis pregnancies by the provision of information, advice and contraceptive services.
ii. To reduce the number of women with crisis pregnancies who opt for abortion by offering services and supports which make other options more attractive.
iii. To provide counselling services, medical services and such other health services for the purpose of providing support, after crisis pregnancy as may be deemed appropriate by the Sexual Health & Crisis Pregnancy Programme.
4. Abortion Aftercare Services
For information about free post-abortion medical and counselling services funded by the Sexual Health & Crisis Pregnancy Programme, members of the public can visit abortionaftercare.ie or freetext AFTERCARE to 50444.
