The number of abortions in England and Wales for 2023 could reach an unprecedented high of 325,000, according to an independent public health consultant.

Kevin Duffy says official government data for January to June 2022 reported a staggering 17% increase over the same period in 2021.

On 22 November 2023, Parliament published written evidence submitted by MSI Reproductive Choices to the inquiry ‘Impact of the rising cost of living on women’. Citing the 17% rise in 2022 MSI-RC says: “As a leading abortion provider [we have] seen an even bigger rise. For example, the first period in 2023 saw an increase of 32% compared with the same time period in 2022…”

Duffy says the official 2022 full-year data from the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID) has not yet been published, but “based on the OHID data for the first six months of 2022 and making an estimate for 2023 based on MSI’s written evidence, we can project a total of 325,000 abortions in 2023”.

This would mean that 1-in-3 pregnancies now end in abortion, up from 1-in-4 in the past.