Abortion: Behind the Statistics

• Scientists agree that from the moment the sperm fertilises the egg the new life created has his/her complete genetic make-up. His/her gender, body type, facial features and colour of hair, eyes, skin, have been decided.
  
• The overwhelming majority of abortions are for social reasons.
  
• Abortion does not prevent disability - it prevents children with disabilities being born.
  
• There are 1000 abortions in Scotland every month, 33 every day.
  
• British Victims of Abortion (BVA) runs a help-line 365 days a year for women and men suffering from Post-Abortion Trauma (PAT). At least 10% of women who have an abortion will suffer PAT at some point between having their abortion and the end of their lives.
  
• In the first year of using the pill there is an 11% failure rate in girls under 18 and an 18% failure rate for couples using condoms.
  
• Family planning experts admit the link between increases in the use of contraceptives and increases in the numbers of abortions. When contraceptives fail many women have an abortion. Studies show that people are not being warned that contraceptives can fail.
  
• Methods of abortion include the RU486 abortion pill, suction abortion and D&C abortion. There are also other methods of late-term abortion.
  
• In Scotland in 1991 36.4% of girls aged 13-19 who became pregnant had an abortion. In 2003 the figure rose to 42.4%.

The Morning-after Pill

• As soon as the sperm fertilises the egg the new embryo starts to develop. If a woman takes the morning-after pill it may cause an abortion by stopping the embryo implanting in the womb.
  
• When a woman takes the morning after pill, it may prevent conception or it may cause an abortion, but she will never know.
  
• The morning-after pill contains up to 50 times the amount of hormone as the mini-pill.
  
• The morning-after pill is not recommended as a regular form of ‘contraception’ and the World Health Organisation states that it is unsuitable for repeated use, yet it can be bought from a pharmacy without a prescription or the medical supervision of a doctor.
  
• Very little is known about the long-term effects of the morning-after pill. There have also been no published trials on its effects on the fertility and health of teenage girls.

• If pregnancy occurs after taking the morning-after pill there is a serious risk of ectopic pregnancy (i.e. a baby developing outside the womb). This may affect as many as 1 in 20 women who become pregnant in spite of taking the morning-after pill and can be a life-threatening condition.
  
• Availability of the morning-after pill has not reduced the number of teenage pregnancies or the number of officially recorded abortions.
  
• The morning-after pill does not protect against sexually transmitted diseases.

SPUC Scotland
March 2003

Copyright © 2002-2008 The Society for the Protection of Unborn Children. All Rights Reserved. Tel: 0141 221 2094. E-mail: Web Design & Development by CSS Web Design