UK Girls using abortion as birth control and having up to FOUR terminations by the age of 18
Pastor Dale Morgan
UK Girls using abortion as birth control and having up to FOUR
terminations by the age of 18*
By Beezy Marsh
Last updated at 2:34 AM on 28th December 2009
Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists
Teenage girls are using abortions as contraception (File Photo)
Teenagers are using repeat abortions as a form of birth control, with
some girls having four or more terminations by the age of 18, it has
been claimed.
Nearly 1,500 of the 19,000 girls under 18 who had a termination last
year had previously undergone one earlier abortion for an unwanted
pregnancy – and in at least one case a teenage girl had her eighth abortion.
Department of Health data for 2008 reveals 74 teenagers had their third
abortion and a further 15 girls under the age of 18 had previously had
between three and six earlier abortions.
But the exact details remain hidden from public scrutiny because of
Government secrecy on abortion figures owing to fears that patients
could be identified.
Campaigners say the figures raise the possibility that for some girls
abortion is not seen as a traumatic life event, but a routine way of
dispensing with an unwanted pregnancy, even though it carries health
risks that can harm fertility later in life.
It also points to the failure of contraception services for young
people, as rather than going on the Pill, girls are choosing to take
risks and have unprotected sex knowing they could get pregnant or expose
themselves to sexually transmitted diseases such as chlamydia.
Pro-life campaigners argue that increasing availability of early medical
abortion, by allowing it to take place in GPs’ surgeries, has served
only to further promiscuity among teenagers who are ignorant of the
health and emotional risks that may ensue.
Julia Millington of the Pro-Life Alliance said: ‘When girls of 18 are
having three, four or more abortions we seriously need to question what
is going on. It would seem abortion is being used as a form of
contraception.
‘These girls are coming back again and again. Who is looking after their
physical and emotional wellbeing? Surely it would be better for them not
to get pregnant in the first place, but no one seems to want to question
this use of repeat abortion on girls.’
Dr Kate Guthrie, consultant in sexual health and spokeswoman for the
Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, said she was shocked
and saddened to learn about the repeat abortion figures.
But she added: ‘These girls are not the majority of under-18s. Women
undergoing abortion do not find it pleasant and most make sure it does
not happen again.’
A spokeswoman for the Family Planning Association said: ‘These figures
represent a fragile group of young women, who may have other problems
going on in their lives. We need to provide them with a better access to
contraception to help reach them.’