Nearly 200 Irishwomen travelled to UK for abortion last year

194 women from Ireland accessed abortion services in the UK in 2020, down from 375 in 2019 and a 93% decrease from the 2,879 who travelled for services in 2018.

The number of women travelling to the UK for an abortion continues to fall but the Irish Family Planning Association (IFPA) said those who made the journey last year, did so, despite Covid risks, because the laws here were still too restrictive.

New figures released by the Department of Health in the UK showed 194 women from Ireland accessed abortion services on the other side of the channel in 2020, down from 375 in 2019 and a 93% decrease from the 2,879 who travelled for services in 2018.

The proportion of abortions for residents of the Irish Republic performed under ground C – "that the pregnancy has NOT exceeded its 24th week and that the continuance of the pregnancy would involve risk, greater than if the pregnancy were terminated, of injury to the physical or mental health of the pregnant woman " – was 68%, a decrease of 15 percentage points from the previous year.

However, the proportion of abortions under ground E – "That there is substantial risk that if the child were born it would suffer from such physical or mental abnormalities as to be seriously handicapped" – increased from 17% in 2019 to 32% in 2020, according to the UK Department.

The figures also show that 6% of abortions were performed at less than 10 weeks gestation, falling from 17% in 2019.

While there has been huge fall in the overall number of people seeking services in the UK since the repeal of the eighth amendment, Niall Behan, IFPA chief executive, said: "The UK statistics show a clear unmet need for abortion care in Ireland.

“The Government imposed travel restrictions to protect public health. But 194 women who could not access care under the Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Act 2018 had no other option but to risk exposure and travel to the UK for abortion care,” he said.

He said there was no decrease in the number of those seeking abortion care due to complex foetal anomalies.

In 2020, travelling abroad became its own health risk. Yet these women were forced by the law to leave the State to access health services in the UK, with heightened anxiety, stress, insecurity and expense during the pandemic.

“The pandemic has exacerbated the harms of denying abortion care. But women will still have to travel when the pandemic is over. This will still be cruel, inhumane and degrading, an unacceptable infringement on women’s right to respect for reproductive autonomy and self-determination.

"The needs of these women should be central to the forthcoming review of the 2018 Act.” 

Pro Life Campaign

Pro Life Campaign spokesperson Eilís Mulroy said the decrease in the number of women travelling to access abortion services in the UK was "inevitable" but added: "Abortion campaigners are trying to paint the new abortion law as restrictive because some women still opt to travel abroad for abortions. It’s utterly misleading, however, to portray the new law in this way given the shocking increase in the number of abortions since repeal.

"The focus of the three-year review of the abortion law currently under way should be about facing up to the reality of how extreme the new law is rather than using the opportunity to strip away any remaining protections that safeguard the lives of unborn babies. It is time for an urgent debate on how the new law is operating with a view to finding ways to reduce the spiralling numbers of abortions taking place.”