Conceptions leading to abortion 29.7%; a rise from 26.5% - ONS

[IwantToRetire]

Published today but figures from over 2 years ago)

• There were 834,260 conceptions for women of all ages in England and Wales in 2022, which is the second consecutive annual increase; the conception rate remained unchanged from 2021, at 71.4 conceptions per 1,000 women.
• Women aged 30 to 34 years had the highest number of conceptions and conception rate for the sixth year in a row and the lowest percentage of conceptions leading to abortion.
• The conception rate fell among women aged 30 years and over and rose among women aged under 30 years, compared with the previous year.
• The percentage of conceptions leading to abortion was 29.7%; this is a rise from 26.5% in 2021 and the highest proportion on record.
• The conception rates rose to 2.2 per 1,000 women aged under 16 years and 17.6 conceptions per 1,000 women aged 16 to 17 years in 2022; rates have remained below pre-coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic levels.
• The West Midlands had the highest (78.3 per 1,000 women) conception rate and the South West had the lowest (64.2 per 1,000 women) of all the English regions, and Wales.

https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/conceptionandfertilityrates/bulletins/conceptionstatistics/2022

I feel like I can't be reading this right - nearly 30% of all conceptions are aborted?! Does that include the morning after pill?

I have only skim read it, but yes it does seem to be saying that.

There are charts showing breakdown of figures by age group.

Don’t be daft. How do you think the MAP works!?

It can’t include the morning after pill can it? That’s a just in case measure, conception is not a prerequisite. You take it either way.

Agree, I saw this earlier today and it doesn’t make sense to me either. And only 61% of conceptions to under 16s are aborted? So 39% of pregnant under 16s have their baby? Really? I can see that the actual numbers are low, but would have still expected that percentage to be much higher.

People don’t want to have children anymore.
The birth rate is falling and I’m sure this is a reflection of that.
It’s a tough world to bring a child into.

From the ONS report
“Conception
Conception is a pregnancy that leads either to a maternity or a legal abortion. We do not hold data on pregnancies that lead to miscarriage or pregnancies ending in illegal abortions.”

The report only details pregnancies that end in a live birth, stillbirth or an abortion. All miscarriages are excluded. As approximately 30% of pregnancies miscarry, the total number of conceptions is artificially low. This then makes the percentage of abortions higher.

Presumably this includes termination after a nipt test or other test indicating an issue. So the more sophisticated antenatal testing gets the more abortions? I.e previously it was testing for the main trisomies and spinal bifida. Now a nipt can pick up other chromosome issues early on?

Based on @Mum4MrA I think the maths is

imagine there are 1000 pregnancies in the ONS data. Add to that another 500 that ended in miscarriage and aren’t in the data.

within this imagined data, there are 290 abortions according to ONS.

which means the actual abortion rate is 290/1500 which is 19%. Still high but not so high.

have I got the maths right?

I think it would be around 22%.

If miscarriages are around 30%

According to google, it is around 20% end in miscarriage.

So would make the abortion rate 24%

Just re-read the figures and they all refer to conception rate.

So this means the %s are all based on the same figure, irrespective of whether out of that conception figure, some go to full term, some miscarry and some are terminated.

Certain sexes are purposely aborted.

Many women don't want to have another child/ any children.

I don't blame them.

Well none of us will know why each woman chose to have an abortion.

Which is as it should be.

When I first saw the headline I thought it would be about more recent figures because their have been newspaper stories (which as we know aren't always factual) that recently women have chosen to have an abortion because she / the family just cannot afford to have another child.

So am wondering whether in 2 years time when the figures for now are published what they will be.

One of my colleagues at work was saying there’s been a lot of negative social media, eg TikTok about taking the pill. I’m too old for TikTok but I think rates of women seeking contraception has reduced, with abortion seen as an alternative maybe?
will try and find a source

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c93lq2w5n44o.amp

a couple of the women in this article had abortions who may have previously taken the pill

'Some women are opting for fertility tracking.'
Some women are playing Russian roulette.

Sadly yes.

And on one level men to.

But as we all know women are left holding the baby.

Not necessarily “sadly”.

Early abortion is safe and effective. As is hormonal contraception. But there are side effects associated with both, which will hit some women harder than others.

If those two groups aren’t substantially the same (possibly even if they are) and the women now spurning hormonal contraceptives are the ones worst hit by their side effects, outcomes overall may be better for women if they rely on fertility apps and abortion pills. It would be interesting to see data comparing the approaches.

Sadly you misunderstood my sadly.

It related to Russian roulette

I’m certainly not sad I misunderstood you. I have no wish to assume people don’t put women first in this matter.

And 86% of abortions are now medical (abortion pills) rather than surgical.

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/abortion-statistics-for-england-and-wales-2022/abortion-statistics-england-and-wales-2022

“Women are facing significant barriers when trying to access contraception, including long wait times and difficulties securing appointments. At BPAS, we regularly hear form women who are seeking an abortion after falling pregnant while waiting for repeat Pill prescriptions or coil insertions. Emergency contraception, while not a silver bullet to unplanned pregnancy rates, remains an underutilised resource in this country, with the majority of women not accessing this vital back-up method after an episode of unprotected sex. The government has committed to improving access via pharmacies, but we need to see this medication reclassified so that it can be sold in a wider range of outlets, including supermarkets, so that women can access it as swiftly as possible when needed.

Press release from BPAS continues at https://www.bpas.org/about-bpas/press-office/press-releases/ons-figures-show-rise-in-proportion-of-conceptions-leading-to-abortions-in-2022/

That is really worrying.

Bit concerned that BPAS’s response is to tout more frequent use of the morning after pill (which is less effective, less studied for frequent repeated use, and has more significant side effects) rather than greater access to the contraception women actually want. But it would be good if it were more widely available.

The morning after pill is also quite expensive, if you could just wait a couple of weeks and see if you got away with it, it’s not a risk I would take, but I can see how other people with less cash to hand would.