Number of women giving Irish addresses at UK abortion clinics decreases for sixth year in a row according to Department of Health UK

The Netherlands emerges as the only other jurisdiction Irish women are travelling to in significant numbers

19th June 2008 – The Crisis Pregnancy Agency notes the figures issued by the UK Department of Health today, showing that there has, for the sixth successive year, been a decrease in the number of women giving Irish addresses at UK abortion clinics. This is a continuation of a very gradual downward trend in the number of women giving Republic of Ireland addresses to abortion clinics in the UK since 2001.

Year/No. of women giving Irish addresses in UK Clinics/Abortion rate per 1,000 women aged 15-44

2001/6673/7.5
2002/6522/7.2
2003/6320/6.9*
2004/6217/6.7
2005/5585/5.9
2006/5042/5.2
2007/4686/4.7

This decrease has been recorded across all age groups.

Since 2001, the number of women giving Irish addresses at UK abortion clinics has decreased by 1,987. The abortion rate (number of abortions per 1,000 women aged 15-44) has fallen from 7.5 in 2001 to 4.7 in 2007.

The Agency has been collating data to examine the patterns of women travelling from Ireland to countries other than the UK for abortion procedures.

In 2006, the Agency started to gather data both retrospectively for 2005 and for the years 2006 and 2007. Abortion service providers in Spain, the Netherlands and Belgium were contacted, as anecdotal evidence indicated that they were the most frequently cited destinations women were travelling to, other than the UK, for abortion procedures. Numbers going to Spain and Belgium were extremely low, less than a total of 10 women are reported to have travelled to these countries for abortion procedures between 2005-2007.**

The Netherlands was the only jurisdiction that had significant numbers of women from Ireland travelling for abortion procedures.

The Agency received data from abortion service providers in the Netherlands. Anecdotally, the clinics have reported that they have only seen a significant number of Irish women attending for abortion procedures since 2006.

Year/No. of women giving Irish addresses in Clinics in The Netherlands
2005/42
2006/461
2007/445

Speaking about the figures, Katharine Bulbulia, Chair of the Crisis Pregnancy Agency said: “I note that the figures have decreased for women giving Irish addresses in UK abortion clinics for the sixth successive year. It is important that we now have a monitoring system in place to provide some clarity regarding the numbers of women travelling to jurisdictions other than the UK for abortion procedures. It has emerged that the only other country that women are currently travelling to in significant numbers is the Netherlands. We will continue to monitor the numbers going to other jurisdictions into the future.”

Caroline Spillane Director of the Crisis pregnancy Agency said: “Since the Agency’s establishment in 2001, we have expanded the provision of free crisis pregnancy counselling nationally by nearly 50%. The Agency has seen a marked increase in the number of women who attend crisis pregnancy counselling throughout the country. When the take-up of counselling is combined with the reduction in the number of women giving Irish addresses in UK abortion clinics, we can suggest that the increased awareness of crisis pregnancy and the services provided has had an impact.”

The Crisis Pregnancy Agency was established in 2001 to bring strategic focus to the issue of crisis pregnancy in Ireland. In 2007, the Agency launched its Strategy; “Leading an integrated approach to reducing crisis pregnancy 2007-2011”. The Strategy highlights a number of areas that the Agency will work on over the next five years that will continue to impact on the numbers travelling for abortion.

*This figure of 6.9 has been revised (compared with the Agency’s press release of June 2007 regarding abortion figures) in light of new population estimates published by the Central Statistics Office in December 2007 on foot of Census 2006 results.

**To respect womens’ confidentiality, exact numbers will not be given for a defined group of women of less than ten.

ENDS

For more information contact:

Enda Saul
Crisis Pregnancy Agency
01-8146292
085 -7172008

Lorna Farren
Crisis Pregnancy Agency
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 Crisis Pregnancy Agency (CPA) was established in 2001 and is mandated to provide for:
A) A reduction in the number of crisis pregnancies by the provision of education, advice and contraceptive services
B) A reduction in the number of women with crisis pregnancies who opt for abortion by offering services and support which make other options more attractive
C) The provision of 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 Agency.