Surge in the number of abortions carried out in Ireland
The counties with the highest number of terminations recorded were Dublin at 3,005, Cork, 734, and Limerick, 377.
There was a significant increase in the number of abortions carried out in Ireland last year, the Department of Health’s latest annual report shows.
In total, there were 8,156 terminations of pregnancy carried out in 2022 under the Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Act 2018.
This is in comparison to 4,577 in 2021, 6,577 medical procedures in 2020 and 6,666 in 2019.
It comes as the Oireachtas health committee is currently considering a review of abortion legislation which has made a number of recommendations, including the removal of a three-day wait period to access medication for the termination of pregnancy.
In 2022, 22 procedures were carried out due to a risk to life or health under the grounds set out in section 9 of the act.
Four terminations were due to a risk to life or health in an emergency situation under section 10, and 88 due to a fatal foetal anomaly under section 11.
In total, 8,042 terminations were carried out in early pregnancy under the grounds set out in section 12 of the act.
A source said there may have been an “error” in the figures reported for 2021 due to the impact of the covid-19 pandemic and the cyberattack on the HSE. However, the data for 2022 marks a “significant increase".
The data provided to Health Minister Stephen Donnelly for 2022 indicates the months with the highest number of terminations carried out were in January with 783 terminations, March with 751 and December, where there were 752 abortions.
The month with the fewest notifications was July, 487.
The counties with the highest number of terminations recorded were Dublin at 3,005, Cork, 734, and Limerick, 377.
The county cited with the fewest notifications of terminations was Leitrim, with only 48.
The data showed Northern Ireland was the place of residence notified in 12 cases, while five notifications recorded the place of residence as another location outside of Ireland.
The report shows four applications for review were received but two applications were subsequently withdrawn.
One of the applications was found to have met the requirements for a lawful termination of pregnancy and one did not meet the requirements.
