A recent study comparing abortion rates among teens in Europe has the British reeling.
The group Reprostat 2 has uncovered that 22% of teenagers in the United Kingdom are having abortions, making the country the possessor of the second highest abortion rate in the continent. However, not only are thousands of teens having abortions, but many of them have aborted on multiple occasions, and for three girls, up to eight times.
The study showed that 38,269 British teens obtained an abortion in 2010, and over 5,300 of those youth were returning for their second abortion. Staggeringly, 485 girls under 19 have had three abortions, and 57 of them have aborted on four occasions.
Researchers believe that young girls are using abortion procedures as a means of contraception, as it is readily available in the country. However, pro-lifers state that they are appalled that so many UK youth are engaging in promiscuous behavior in the first place.
“There is something seriously wrong with a country where teenagers are having even one abortion, let alone repeat abortions to this extent,” said Rebecca Mallinson of Pro-Life Alliance. “As to the psychological impact for these extremely vulnerable teenagers, one can only hope they find proper counseling and help as soon as possible,” she said.
Belgium has the highest teen abortion rate in Europe, as over 25 percent of girls admit to obtaining abortion services.
However, Reprostat’s study not only revealed teenage repeat abortion rates as being significant, but that women in general were commonly ending the lives of their children.
“Out of the 189,574 abortions carried out in 2010 for women of all ages, more than 64,300 terminations were for women who had already had the operation in the past,” the report stated. “Some 85 of those women had undergone at least seven previous terminations, including 30 women who were aged under 30.”
The United States far surpasses the number of abortions in the UK, with over a million babies being aborted every year by their mothers.