Women accessing abortion not told of the risk they would remain childless

10 November 2025

New analysis by independent public health consultant Kevin Duffy has shown that many women who access abortion in their twenties will remain childless at 45 – a risk they are not told about.

It shows that in 2022, it is very likely that more than 5,000 childless women aged 29, who presented for an abortion, were not warned of the 50% chance that they would remain childless at 45.

Andrea Williams, chief executive of Christian Concern, commented:

“Despite their reputation as ‘pro-choice’, abortion providers fail to give women the full picture of what the choice to abort will mean for them in the long term.”

“How many women would make different decisions if they knew of the 50/50 chance that they would never have children?”

Lowest fertility rate on record

In August 2025, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) announced for England and Wales that the total fertility rate (TFR) in 2023 was 1.41, “the lowest value on record for the 3rd year in a row.”

The total fertility rate in England and Wales has remained below replacement level 2.1 since 1973 and has steeply declined since 2012. The report notes that this poses “serious challenges for our society and economy”.

Duffy writes, “If we are to address this issue responsibly, we must confront all contributing factors—including the role of abortion—with honesty and urgency.”

Although fewer women are becoming pregnant each year, there is a rising abortion rate among them.

Andrea Williams commented:

“Every unborn child deserves protection from the any-reason, any-stage abortion practices that anti-life activists in our country want.

“These practices are not just wrong, but these abortions are a major contributor to our wider problems. Hundreds of thousands of people go missing every year, meaning a smaller workforce supporting an aging population.

“Censorship zones around clinics and pills by post make it easier than ever for women to be nudged towards a choice to abort rather than presented with other options.

“At the very least, abortion providers should be required to present women with the full implications of a decision to abort, as well as opportunities for independent counselling and other forms of support.”

 
CC-Resource-Abortion-and-childlessness-Kevin-Duffy-251105.pdf (0,55MB)
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