Did you know?

20 million unsafe abortions

Each year, 20 million abortions take place in unsafe conditions and as a consequence, an estimated 80,000 women die

1.25 billion cannot access abortion services

Over a quarter of the world’s population live in countries where abortion is entirely prohibited or only permitted to save a woman’s life

Late abortions are rare

Late abortions are extremely rare but necessary – less than 1 per cent are carried out after 22 weeks

Abortion is very safe

Abortion is very safe in Britain and is one of the most commonly performed gynaecological procedures. Complications are extremely rare; carrying a pregnancy to term is more risky.

Ten per cent of GPs

Ten per cent of GPs consider themselves to be conscientious objectors and refuse to grant women an abortion

Legal in Britain since 1967

Abortion has been legal in Britain since 1967, but only by permission of two doctors and in restricted circumstances

No link to breast cancer

Contrary to assertions by the anti-choice lobby, medical research consistently shows that women who have had an abortion have no greater risk of breast cancer than those who have not.

A major ten-year study of 100,000 women published in 2007 in the US ‘Archives of Internal Medicine’ has concluded that neither induced nor spontaneous abortion was associated with the incidence of breast cancer. The research was conducted by researchers affiliated with the Harvard Medical School and th e Harvard School of Public Health.

One in five pregnancies…

One in five of all pregnancies ends in abortion.

What % of the UK is pro-choice?

76 per cent of the UK population are pro-choice

Most abortions take place…when?

Almost 90% of abortions take place in the first 12 weeks of pregnancy

One in three women

One in three women has an abortion in their lifetime

UK abortion laws are restrictive

Abortion laws in the UK are more restrictive than in almost every other European country, where abortion on request is legal in the first three months of pregnancy