Press Release

Abortion has killed twice as many people as Covid since start of pandemic

27 October 2021         Issued by: Christian Concern

Today marks the 54th anniversary of the Abortion Act 1967 receiving royal assent. Since that date, a staggering 9,789,238 lives have been ended.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, twice as many lives have been lost to abortion as to Covid-19.

The latest figures show 163,515 deaths in the UK with Covid-19 on the death certificate. This figure drops to 139,834 deaths within 28 days of a positive test for Covid-19.

Over the same time period, since 1 March 2020, around 340,000 unborn babies have been killed through abortion in England, Wales and Scotland.

The number of abortions in England and Wales reached a record high in 2020: 209,917 abortions occurred in that year, up from 207,384 in 2019. This represents the highest number of abortions since the introduction of the Abortion Act in 1967.

There is no doubt that this was in part driven by the introduction of the DIY home abortion scheme, as some 85% of all abortions that took place in England and Wales in 2020 were medically induced.

Statistics now show that one in four pregnancies ends in abortion in the UK.

‘Where is Plan B for abortion?’

Andrea Williams, chief executive of Christian Concern commented: “Each year, 27 October marks the anniversary of the Abortion Act 1967, which made abortion legal in England, Wales and Scotland. It could hardly have been imagined that abortion medication would, by now, essentially be available for any reason, with no proper medical checks or oversight, with just a telephone appointment. Nor would the enormous and tragic numbers of abortions since then – fast approaching 10 million – been remotely acceptable to the politicians who voted it through.

“When will we start tackling these avoidable deaths? Where is plan B for abortion? Where is the lockdown for abortion? Where is the social distancing, mask wearing or public health initiative to slow down abortion? There is none. The child is utterly absent from present day abortion policy. No one cares that a life is being ended. The days when abortion supporters called for safe, legal and rare are gone and the baby is now seen as a mere parasite.

“How many of us know someone who has died from Covid? Multiply that number by two and, on average, you’d have the number of abortions amongst people you know. Each one life-changing for the mother and life-ending for the child.

“This is overwhelmingly dark. The reality is that abortion is mostly unseen and the cost barely registers with us.

“This has to change. We won’t be silent on the issue until abortion is made unimaginable.”

 

Notes to editors

9,789,238 lives is a projection for England, Wales and Scotland through to midnight on 27/10/2021. It is taken from abortion statistics for England and Wales, and for Scotland, assuming the number of abortions per day will remain the same in 2021 as in 2020, and that the rate throughout the year is evenly distributed.

340,000 abortion for the period 1 March 2020 – 27 October 2021 is taken from abortion statistics for England and Wales, and for Scotland, assuming the same rate over the period 1 March 2020 to 27 October 2021.

Covid deaths in UK – https://coronavirus.data.gov.uk/details/deaths

Abortion statistics 2020, England and Wales – https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/abortion-statistics-for-england-and-wales-2020

Abortion statistics 2020, Scotland – https://publichealthscotland.scot/publications/termination-of-pregnancy-statistics/termination-of-pregnancy-statistics-year-ending-december-2020/