Responding to today's Abortion Statistics for England and Wales 2010, Natika H Halil, Director of Information for the sexual health charity FPA said:

'Over the last decade, we've seen significant achievements in abortion services. Most women are having abortions under 13 weeks and we've seen a substantial rise in early medical abortions. Medical abortions are a much more straightforward and less invasive procedure for women. The cost to the NHS is greatly reduced; especially relevant in the current economic climate. The next logical, clinically safe step with early medical abortion is to allow women to have them at home.

However, reflecting the need for greater investment in contraception services, we've seen overall abortion numbers go up since 2000. Worryingly a quarter of women under 25 are having repeat abortions too. Clearly there needs to be a much better relationship and tighter integration between local contraceptive and abortion services. Despite the advances, women still live in a postcode lottery. Where you live dictates how quickly you'll get an abortion. This is unacceptable.'

With the NHS just about to undergo sweeping reforms, now is the time to change this trend and redesign reproductive health services in a new, more customer focused way.

Source:
FPA