Research, data analysis, and commentary on abortion, fertility trends, and pro-natal policies.
OHID: “There were 277,970 abortions for residents of England and Wales in 2023, the highest number since the Abortion Act was introduced and an increase of 11% compared with 2022.” [i] The government has just published the 2023 abortion statistics for England and Wales (15 January 2026). These were originally expected in June 2024 and... Continue Reading →
Update on 15 January 2026 OHID has just published the 2023 abortion statistics for England and Wales. I have increased my 2024 estimate for the UK total to 305,000 - details are in this post: 2023: an 11% increase in abortion across England and Wales. In 2024, there were 300,000 abortions in the UK, an 11%... Continue Reading →
On 08 May 2025, Nicola Packer, who was arrested on suspicion of an illegal abortion in November 2020, was cleared by the jury at Isleworth Crown Court. Her case is already being used as a cause célèbre by those campaigning for the decriminalisation of abortion, chief amongst them Jonathan Lord, an NHS consultant gynaecologist and... Continue Reading →
There were probably more than 300,000 abortions in the UK in 2024, up from our conservative estimate of 292,000 in 2023. This estimate is based on official published data in Scotland and Northern Ireland for 2023 and annual reports published by BPAS and MSI-RC for the same year. The last set of official data for... Continue Reading →
The Mexico City Policy is about “who pays” rather than reducing abortion numbers. Despite emotive protestations about the likely harmful effects of this policy, we find that the global abortion business at MSI-RC continues to grow. As President Trump reinstates this policy, we should follow suit and stop using our taxes to fund overseas abortion.... Continue Reading →
An effective medical abortion is defined by the MARE Guidelines[i] as a successful expulsion of an intrauterine pregnancy without the need for surgical intervention, clarified by the following sub-categories: Continuing pregnancy: treated with surgical management Continuing pregnancy: patient opted to continue or outcome is unknown Retained products treated with surgical management (an evacuation of retained... Continue Reading →
In a recent article, Inkstick joined with MSI Reproductive Choices (MSI-RC) to criticise US Christian groups for providing funds to pro-life organisations operating across Africa.[i] They wanted to ring the alarm bells that some rich philanthropists were giving away their own money to support causes that align to their own personally held ideologies. Considering the... Continue Reading →
In an interview with the BBC, Dr Jonathan Lord, medical director at MSI Reproductive Choices, raised concerns about an ‘unprecedented’ number of women being investigated by police on suspicion of illegally ending their pregnancy. He said that he knows of up to 60 criminal inquiries in England and Wales since 2018, compared with almost zero... Continue Reading →
Dr Lord, medical director at MSI Reproductive Choices, told the BBC that he knows of up to 60 women facing criminal inquiries for suspected abortion crime in England and Wales since 2018, compared with almost zero before. However, Home Office data show only a small uptick in 2022/23, compared to the eight years before that;... Continue Reading →
Kevin Duffy, former global director of clinics development at MSI, said the organisation was among those letting “women obtain pills-by-post” despite the dangers of an “incomplete abortion” requiring medical help. Writing on X, formerly Twitter, he said Dr Lord’s “perceived ‘problem’ of an increasing number of prosecutions is one of his own making and could... Continue Reading →
The Guardian, asking about what might be causing the recent increase in prosecution cases being brought against women suspected of an illegal abortion, says “it’s fair to say no one really knows for sure why…” and then in the very next part of the same sentence says, “the increased use of pills obtained to do... Continue Reading →
When talking about their ideology of abortion decriminalisation, activists will often emphasise that this will not mean abortion would be freed from all regulations. In this post we start to explore which regulations they might be referring to and whether these are currently being complied with. In tabling her proposed amendment to the Criminal Justice... Continue Reading →
“…misoprostol, can be safely and effectively used on its own.” That’s what MSI Reproductive Choices is telling the public about a medical abortion treatment known to fail once in every five cases. This statement follows a similar one by Dr Grossman, a leading abortion researcher and advocate in the U.S., “What do people need to... Continue Reading →
Medical Abortion (MA), aka the abortion pill, doesn’t always work; it is well-established that MA has an expected and commonly occurring treatment failure rate of about 5%. Meaning that as many as 1-in-20 pregnant women using abortion pills will subsequently need additional medical treatment for complications arising from an incomplete abortion. Medical abortion treatment failure... Continue Reading →
It's not just about ‘safety’ – the abortion pill (mifepristone and misoprostol) is medically safe for the woman; serious complications from medical abortion including hospitalisation, blood transfusion, major surgery, or death are rare. Arguing for changes to the legal and regulatory control of medical abortion solely based on safety is a very weak argument. Now... Continue Reading →
Medical abortion doesn't always work; it is well established that MA has an expected treatment failure rate of about 6%. Which means that as many as 1-in-17 pregnant women using abortion pills will subsequently need hospital treatment for complications arising from an incomplete abortion. Ranbaxy (UK) Limited is the manufacturer of Medabon, the mifepristone/misoprostol combination... Continue Reading →
In 2020, Marie Stopes global provision of abortion fell by 40%. They provided 2,800,000 abortions compared to 4.6m in 2019. The original 'target/goal' for 2020 was 5m abortions. The CEO's remuneration has fallen by 43% from 2018, down to £244,000 from a high of £434,000.
Marie Stopes Australia (MSA) says that more than 5% of the medical abortions it provides, fail to complete. Meaning that 1-in-20 women will have fragments of the baby and/or placenta remaining in their womb after taking both sets of the tablets, mifepristone and misoprostol. These women will need to seek further treatment to prevent ongoing... Continue Reading →
Foreign Aid Budget Cut. MSI Reproductive Choices, International Planned Parenthood Federation, and UNFPA have each lost significant levels of funding from the UK taxpayer. The Government has decided to withhold £131 million of previously agreed funds from UNFPA and has informed MSI and IPPF that £70m expected in June 2021 for its flagship Women’s Integrated... Continue Reading →
Government has decided to withhold £131 million of previously agreed funds from UNFPA and has informed MSI and IPPF that £70m expected in June 2021 for its flagship Women’s Integrated Sexual Health programme will not be paid. We welcome these funding cuts. https://christianconcern.com/comment/do-not-use-my-taxes-to-pay-for-abortion-overseas/
