Press Release 29 May 2007

SCOTLAND’S ABORTIVE SOCIETY IS FAILING WOMEN

INCREASING numbers of women in Scotland are being failed by lack of counselling and support addressing the reasons they opt for abortion.

SPUC Scotland, Scotland’s leading pro-life lobby group, has warned that hundreds of women across Scotland face severe emotional trauma as a result of opting for abortion without being given the full facts or having their ‘crises’ addressed.

The warning follows the release of the latest abortion figures for Scotland showing the predictable annual rise in abortions in 2006 that SPUC Scotland believes is demonstrative of an abortive society that is failing women.

The figures show abortions in Scotland rose by 478 during 2006 to a staggering 13,081, the vast majority of which (95.4%) were carried out under Ground C of the statutory grounds for abortion under the terms of the Abortion Act.

The latest figures show a consistent rise in the levels of abortion in Scotland over the past five years so that for every four babies born in our country today one child has their chance at life terminated by abortion.

The statistical breakdown showed that the overall picture of abortion in Scotland has remained the same with the Tayside region maintaining the highest rate in the country, at 15.7 per 1000 women.
The 16-19 age category was once again the age group with the highest abortion rate at 24.1 per 1000, although the 20-24 age group was not far behind at 23.6 per 1000.

The rate of abortion in areas of high deprivation has also remained at almost double that of the rates in the least deprived areas of Scotland.

SPUC Scotland believes the statistics indicate the real social problems that lead women to choose abortion are not being addressed.

A spokesperson for SPUC Scotland stated: “Abortion has become preferable to addressing the problems of our society. We are more likely to say women in deprived areas should opt for abortion than address the issues that lead to poverty, for example.

“It would be interesting to know the real reasons behind these Ground C abortions because when women come to our sister organisation, British Victims of Abortion, for counselling to cope with the trauma of their abortions they indicate a lack of balanced counselling and reasons that are more social and based on the opinions of others rather than their own informed choice based on a knowledge of the range of alternative help that is available.”

Ends

Notes to Editors:

*For further inquiry or comment please contact Donna Nicholson on 0141 221 2094, 07866 599 671 or email: donna@spucscotland.org.

*For more information on the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children Scotland log on to www.spucscotland.org
*For more information on British Victims of Abortion log on to www.bvafoundation.org

*Statutory Grounds for Abortion from April 1991. Non Emergency – Ground C: 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.

*FYI: Ann Winterton MP (Con) is introducing a Bill under the Ten-Minute Rule procedure to amend the present abortion law with the support of the All-Party Parliamentary Pro-Life Group on Tuesday, June 5, 2007. It seeks to clarify the grounds for abortion as well as giving women who apply for abortion balanced counselling which will ensure that they are properly informed about the possible ill effects of the abortion on their physical and mental health, and also of the alternatives they may follow if they decide to continue with the pregnancy. The Bill will also require women to be given one week after counselling before having the abortion to give them the opportunity to change their minds. It has been recommended by leading psychiatrists and gynaecologists who quote the latest major research project – published in The Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry (January 2006). This shows that even women with no past mental health problems are at greater risk of psychological ill effects after abortion. In the survey women who had had abortions had twice the level of mental health problems and three times the risk of major depressive illness as those who had given birth or had never been pregnant. The study caused the American Psychological Association last year to withdraw an official statement denying a link between abortion and psychological harm.

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