Abortion rate will rise if legalised
The evidence is clear. Legalisation increases abortion rates dramatically.
Irish figures for abortion remain comparatively low because we have not legalised abortion in this country. We have an average rate of approximately 6,000 abortions per annum (4,422 performed last year in the UK).
The rates of abortion in Ireland are around one-in-10 women for women of child-bearing age. The figures in the UK is approximately 2.5 times higher, with abortions proceeding at the rate of one-in-four pregnancies. It is thought one-in-three women of child-bearing age have had an abortion at some stage in the UK. The total number of abortions there in 2006 was 214,254, equivalent to some 600 per day.
Whilst I readily accept that cost, convenience and cultural issues are obvious determinants and potential deterrents to abortion in Ireland, they are not necessarily negative restrictions.
As a family doctor, I question the grounds on which we can support this detrimental procedure. Indeed, are there any logical reasons for us to facilitate abortion on demand in this country whilst ample but largely ignored medical evidence refutes the medical myths in favour of abortion?
Dr Richard Gavin
Cornerstone Medical Practice, Drogheda
Irish Independent
