Monday, December 28, 2009

Teens Use Abortion in Place of Contraception: UK

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.

-- From "Girls using abortion as birth control and having up to FOUR terminations by the age of 18" by Beezy Marsh, London Daily Mail 12/27/09

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.

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.

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.

To read the entire article, CLICK HERE.