UK abortion figures speak for themselves

The Minister for Justice Frances Fitzgerald has said the use of the phrase “abortion on demand” is “insulting to women”. But why ?

It is often said to refer to abortion as being “on demand” implies that women will resort to abortion willy-nilly. I presume this is what Mrs Fitzgerald was getting at, but unfortunately the experience from the UK shows otherwise.

In England and Wales there were 695,233 live births and 2,267 stillbirths recorded in 2014. There were also 184,571 abortions recorded.

Incredibly, this means 21% of all recorded pregnancies in England and Wales ended in abortion.

Of the total number of abortions 68,291 (37%) were performed on women who had already had one or more abortions.

All of these procedures were performed under the 1967 Abortion Act which introduced abortion on just the kind of “limited” basis which Mrs Fitzgerald and others now seek to introduce here in Ireland.

Does Mrs Fitzgerald think Irish women would not resort to abortion on a similar scale if it was introduced here?

Are Irish women somehow more sensible than women in the UK

Thomas Ryan

Mount Tallant Avenue

Harolds Cross, Dublin 6W