Ireland's First Annual Report on Abortion Statistics Published
30 June 2020
The first annual report on abortion statistics for the year ending 31 December 2019 was published today.
The report indicates that 6666 pregnant women and girls were able to access free, safe and legal abortion care in Ireland. There remain, however, some serious gaps in the legislation that still require pregnant women to travel abroad. One such gap is the high threshold of “serious harm” to a pregnant person’s health under what should be a general health ground. Another is the lack of access in cases of severe non-fatal fetal impairment diagnoses. Statistics published by the UK Department of Health and Social Care in early June 2020 revealed that 375 women and girls travelled from Ireland to access abortion services in England and Wales in 2019.
Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Act 2018 – Annual Report on Notifications 2019