Teenage abortion rates continue to go down

Thursday 14 July 2016

Teenage abortions went up slightly in 2015 but the general trend continues to show a significant decrease from the start of the new millennium.

Figures obtained in the annual Jersey Abortion Statistics by the Health Intelligence Unit reveal that teenage abortions have decreased significantly since 2001 on the Island.

The Jersey abortion rate for women aged 15-19 years did increase from six per 1,000 of the population in 2014 to seven per 1,000 in 2015.

But the overall downward trend continues as these figures represent a large decrease in the Jersey abortion rates for women aged 15-19 years, as they stood at 23 per 1,000 in 2001. 

The report reveals that a total of 191 women had abortions in Jersey in 2015, up 14% from the previous year, but again, this represents a trend for falling numbers, as the 2014 figures were the lowest recorded since 2000.

The abortion rate in 2015 was 10 abortions per 1,000 women aged 15-44 years, higher than in 2014 (eight per 1,000); but considerably lower than the rate seen at the start of the century (15 per 1,000 in 2001).

While there has been a slight increase in abortions in 2015, compared with the previous year, the report concluded that: “The abortion rate for Jersey has been consistently lower than that seen in England and Wales and marginally lower than that seen for Scotland in recent years.

“The total period abortion rate for Jersey in 2015 was 0.3 abortions per 1,000 women. This compares with the latest available rate for England and Wales of 0.49 in 2014.

A total of 54% of all abortions performed in Jersey in 2015 were in the 20-29 age group of women, by a wide margin the highest in terms of age groups. Only nine percent were carried out on women over the age of 40.

Just under half of abortions (46%) were performed on single women and the vast majority (98%) of abortions were undertaken due to distress of the women, whilst the remaining two per cent were conducted because of foetal abnormalities. 

The report also revealed that in 2015, around a quarter (26 per cent) of women undergoing abortions had had one or more previous terminations - a significant decrease of 12 per cent on the 2014 figure.

This latest figure is also markedly lower than that seen for England and Wales of 38 per cent in 2015.