Decline in number of Irish women travelling to Britain for abortions

FEWER Irish women travelled to Britain to have an abortion last year compared with 2003, according to statistics from the British Department of Health.

The figures showed 6,217 Irish women travelled to Britain to have an abortion in 2004 a 1.7% drop from the figure of 6,320 in 2003.

However, crisis pregnancy groups claimed more Irish women are now travelling to other EU countries to have an abortion, such as Holland, Belgium and Spain, due to the growing cost of accessing facilities in Britain.

Director of counselling at the Irish Family Planning Association, Rosie Toner said while she welcomed the slight decline in the numbers of people travelling to Britain for an abortion, the main reason for the reduction was that women were accessing cheaper services in other countries.

"Lower airfares and access to the internet has enabled Irish women to investigate other options outside of Britain," she said.

The IFPA quoted figures which show that the cost of an 'early abortion', between seven and 14 weeks of pregnancy, typically costs between €650-€750 in Britain, while in countries like Holland, the procedure can cost as little as €250.

The statistics from the Department of Health in Britain also showed women aged between 20 and 30 years represented the majority of those who travelled from Ireland for abortion services in 2004.

More than half of the Irish women terminated their pregnancy between week four and nine weeks. Just 2% of women waited until the 20th week of pregnancy or after.

Forty-nine Irish women under the age of 16 travelled to Britain for an abortion in 2004, while 235 women over the age of 40 did likewise.

Those in the 20-24 age group had the highest number of abortions at 1,963.

Ms Toner said Irish women are known to visit countries as far afield as Russia and the US to access abortion services. She also claimed Health Minister Mary Harney had completely avoided the issue.

Geraldine Martin of the Pro-Life Campaign also welcomed the slight reduction in the abortion statistics, but said the figures were still "tragically high".

She also criticised the Crisis Pregnancy Agency, claiming advertising for abortion as a "positive option" would not bring about a further reduction in abortion figures.