Euro likely cause of Irish abortion drop in Britain

IRISH women may be travelling to other eurozone countries for abortions due to the high cost of paying for the procedure in sterling in Britain, according to a family planning expert.

Figures released by the British Government show that in 2002 a total of 6,490 women providing Irish addresses had abortions in England a drop of 135 on the previous year.

While the Irish Family Planning Association (IFPA) welcomed the reduction in the number of women who travelled to England and Wales for abortions last year, it believed more women were taking advantage of the euro and opting for abortions in other countries that have adopted the single currency.

"While the decrease is, of course, welcome, it may be a fact that more Irish women are travelling to other European countries to access services there.

"Travelling to Britain for a termination is extremely expensive,"

IFPA chief executive Catherine Heaney said.

"Some women now choose to travel to other European countries where they can pay for their termination in euro," Ms Heaney said.

Access to the internet and increased mobility of young women meant that Britain was no longer the only option for those seeking termination services, she added.

Ms Heaney said that, in order to more accurately measure the success or otherwise of the work of the Crisis Pregnancy Agency in bringing about a reduction in the numbers seeking abortion services, the Department of Health should compile its own abortion statistics. This would require statistical feedback from all EU countries to which Irish women travel for abortion services.

"Nonetheless, at face value this decrease is a move in the right direction," she said. "It represents the first time since 1989 that there has been a fall in the number of Irish women travelling to England and Wales for abortion services." According to the statistics, the highest number of those who had abortions were in the 20-24 age-group, followed by the 25-29 age group.

Fifty-four Irish girls under the age of 16 were recorded as having abortions in 2002, and 269 women were over the age of 40.

The Society for the Protection of Unborn Children (SPUC) described the abortion statistics as evidence of a national tragedy.

SPUC general secretary Paul Tully said: "The 2002 abortion figures for England and Wales show no significant shift in the number of recorded abortions or in the rate of abortions per 1,000 women in their main child-bearing years."