THE number of abortions carried out in Jersey last year was the highest in more than 20 years, new figures have revealed.
And Public Health director Professor Peter Bradley said “financial pressures” and the impact of the cost-of-living crisis could be contributing to women’s decisions to terminate their pregnancies.
However, he added the higher figure could also be down to increased accessibility of medical, rather than surgical, terminations.
The latest Termination of Pregnancy report, published on Thursday 20 June, showed that around 260 abortions were reported in the Island last year, 8% higher than the 240 in 2022 and the highest since 2002.
The 2022 figures for England and Wales also showed the highest number of abortions since the Abortion Act was introduced in 1967.
And the abortion ratio – a comparable figure used in some countries – was 327 abortions per 1,000 live births, similar to England and Wales at 328 and higher than the EU average of 184, as well as that of several other European countries.
The figures also showed a sharp increase in the number of women aged 25 to 29 having an abortion between 2019 and 2023.
Prof Bradley said the data presented a “mixed picture” because nearly all were medical terminations rather than surgical and were happening earlier in the pregnancy.
He said: “Obviously, the earlier the termination, the less likely there will be any sort of complications.”
On reasons for the continuing increase, he said: “It’s not easy to interpret why this is the case, but it may be that these medical terminations are more accessible now.
“We also have to consider the impact of the cost of living. We don’t know for certain if that’s a factor, but I would anticipate that those two reasons might be why we have seen that increase.
“This report doesn’t give us any information on why, but you could assume that financial pressure is one of the reasons.”
Prof Bradley continued: “We compare quite well to the UK, but we need to monitor these numbers and look across Europe to see if we can do a bit better because their rates are lower. This is a very important area for us to continue to look at or improve on.
“We are being ambitious about the future and ensuring that women in the Island are given the very best services in terms of sexual health.”
He added there was more work to do on “informing young people” of their choices.
A review of the Termination of Pregnancy Law 1997 is ongoing within the Health Department, but Health Minister Tom Binet said the timeframe for the work had been extended because of a shortage of resources within the policy team.
Prof Bradley said these statistics were “very relevant” where policy teams were assessing the success of the current law.
He added that he hoped the review, and any changes to the law, could lead to terminations happening earlier in pregnancy to avoid any potential problems for women.
He further emphasised the importance of seeking “timely advice” from a GP or taking emergency contraception, which is available from a number of locations including the Contraception and Cervical Screening Centre at Le Bas Centre in St Saviour’s Road.
More information is available at gov.je/Health/SexualHealth/pages/contraception.aspx.
