1 in 4 pregnancies ends in abortion?

[MultiBird]

Reading the BBC article about the US ruling, it says that in the US 1 in 6 pregnancies ends in abortion, which I thought seemed very high, but I looked it up and it's 1 in 4 in UK.

I'd fight very hard indeed if anyone challenged a woman's right to choose here, but isn't that very high? Is there some truth in the argument that it's being used as contraception? I've heard it said before and dismissed it as ridiculous but 25%?!

Bear with me a sec and I'll post the links.

What matter is women and girls who are sexually actively by choice (we have to accept some under 16 are having sex with same age boyfriends) have knowledge and access to contraception (full understanding of hormonal contraception and possible side effects) and also access to having a termination

if thats 1 in 3 pregnancies ends in termination then so be it what is important is we are free to make choices for ourselves

Absolutely!

Honestly around half of abortions are due to contraception failure. So really it’s more like 1 in 8 pregnancies are abortions due to all other reasons…health of mother, rape, incest, abnormalities, poverty, etc.

Lots of data out there as to how effective contraception really is IRL. The pill is only 91% effective and that’s only per 1 year of use. So in 1 year, 9 women in 100 will fall pregnant.

There’s nothing “wrong” with women and everything wrong with the myth that you can 100% prevent pregnancy with contraception.

Personally I have far more respect for any woman who has an abortion (or ten) than one who goes ahead with a pregnancy knowing she does not want the child and/or knows she will struggle to provide the child with a reasonable level of care and stability

If that means 25% of pregnancies ending in abortion then it is far better than the alternative (for both the woman and the child IMHO)

I would still prefer a woman to end a pregnancy she doesn't want, for ANY reason, than spend a lifetime raising a child she didn't want, and making that child suffer as a result. So many children have suffered because they were unwanted. Why would anyone do that?

I'm still not clear why so many posters think this figure is so massively out of proportion, globally the number of abortions in the UK rate as average to low, nowhere near the level of countries who are listed as having comparatively high numbers like Russia.

I do wonder is it 1 in 4 pregnancies or 1 in 4 women have an abortion? I often see with the miscarriage statistic (that's similar) those 2 get used interchangeably.

Not that it would change my opinion on being Pro Choice anyway. I'm just curious.

You can be pro choice whilst strongly disagreeing with people being careless with contraception as they know abortion is a back up plan.

It's such a cop out to call everybody expressing concern about repeated avoidable abortions - pro life.

I "strongly disagree" with driving distances of less than 2 miles, not bathing babies under 18 months daily, binge drinking, breast implants, sweets before lunch and many, many other lifestyle choices thousands of people make daily. Does it impact on me ? No so it's neither here or there whether I agree or disagree with it.

The decision to terminate is usually the least shitty of a set of pretty shitty options for most women. There are no 'planned abortions". Leave other people alone to get on with their lives.

4 pregnancies, 2 abortions (the first two pregnancies - 1 failed contraception, 1 abusive relationship). No regrets. I thank the law that the choice was there.
Many women will have had an abortion, not all women have children.

oh my god, me too

Any reason at all

Again; the statistics are for live births and abortions only, and do not include miscarriages.
So no. 1 in 4 pregnancies do not end in abortion.

fullfact.org/health/miscarriage-abortion-data/

No fullfact think it's a misquote - if you take pg that end in miscarriage into account as well as all other pg it's more like 1 in 5.

The miscarriage rate being about 1 in 5 pg -though I've seen higher estimates than that.

Honestly around half of abortions are due to contraception failure. So really it’s more like 1 in 8 pregnancies are abortions due to all other reasons…health of mother, rape, incest, abnormalities, poverty, etc.

Actually I can easily believe that - area I was in was investigated because so many women got pg with coils- it was checked it wasn't a faulty batch or a particular person fitting- it was a statically blip. A few been re-directed from sterilisation as the coil had better stats against pg - the women who spoke of their situation continue the pg and all already had children and in several case caused financial stress.

I still got the hard sell from GP and that pg with coils just didn't happen - they also had no side effects which also wasn't true for many I knew with them.

And again, because nobody acknowledged it before

The proportion of abortions that are performed at under 10 weeks has continued to increase since 2011. In 2021, 89% of abortions were performed under 10 weeks, increasing from 88% in 2020 and 78% in 2011.

So that would be using mifepristone, 2-stage pills, etc. Morning after pill, early intervention, medical but not surgical. That this has now become a 'home based method' is something we should be happy about. Not adding to the shaming of women in need - or in want!

@Barelyfunctioning3

It's Jane round the corner who doesn't bother with contraception at all and is on her 4th, 5th (and so on) abortion I disapprove of.

Why?

Its a medical procedure, that changes her from being a pg woman to a non pg woman.

How exactly does this affect you??

1. Would you rather Jane was not allowed to get a safe abortion because she does not want to be pg, because you disapprove??
2. Do you want Jane to be punished for not taking proper contraceptive precautions?
3. Are you out to punish Jane for not using contraception?
4. Do you think Jane will be make a good forced mother?

I think it's disingenuous to assume that abortion is fine and dandy and nothing to do with anyone else.

It's a least worse option, and we need to improve the other options.

If contraception is as poor as people are reporting, over the course of a woman's lifetime, then we need to be publicising that better.

People need to know they are at risk of pregnancy. Men need to know their partners can get pregnant using contraception, and it's not deliberate or careless on her part. Women need to know.

I think women would generally consider themselves 'very unlucky' if contraception failed.

1 - No

2 - No

3 - No

4 - No idea, she's a fictional character for arguments sake

As I said repeatedly, my opinion that somebody is stupid for not using contraception when they don't want a baby has no baring on their choices or freedom to make those choices.

People can abort as many pregnancies as they like. I'm not trying to stop anybody.

I am entitled to my opinion though.

I think many women, myself included, as are blase about contraception at some point in their lives - you know, the same way men seem much more likely to be for the whole of their lives.

I doubt many women think an abortion is 'fine and dandy' but it really is, when the final decision is to be made, bugger all to do with anyone else.

If we have better education for everyone about sex and better education about the MAP then all is good.

25% seems quite normal - I've had 1 abortion, 1 medical management of miscarriage (possibly also classed as an abortion) and 1 pregnancy resulting in a live birth. Thankfully in the first two cases I was able to access timely medical care.

2% of all women not 2% of pregnant women.

It's Jane round the corner who doesn't bother with contraception at all and is on her 4th, 5th (and so on) abortion I disapprove of.
My disapproval stems from wondering why she wouldn't seek to prevent it happening a second time, let alone the rest. Its the frustration of thinking "just why would you keep putting yourself in this position, it's so easily avoidable"

@Barelyfunctioning3 See, my first thought would be 'Is Jane OK?' I would wonder if she was with an abusive partner, whether she actually understood all the contraceptive methods out there, whether there was something medical/psychological making her a bit careless. I certainly wouldn't be hoiking my judgy pants up.

And even if she really did rely on abortion, well so what? Jane (and any other woman) is free to have as many abortions as she wants.

so you can answer 1-3 on the fictional Jane, but not the 4th because she is made up?

You think anyone being a forced mother would be good?

Agreed

I think people who say 'women should be allowed to have abortions but' and then go on listing how they want those women to

• jump through hoops


• appreciate the gravity of their act (i.e. feel shame and misery)

are misogynists in our own ranks.

How do you know jane is in hee 5th? Has she shared this information with you?

Agree.

I trust women

As soon as possible as late as necessary

For any reason