Some 98.2 per cent of abortions that took place happened where there was no threat to the health or the life of mother or child. The report revealed that the majority of abortions came under the ‘early pregnancy’ category (6,542), while 100 were carried out because of a ‘condition likely to lead to the death of a foetus’. A further 21 abortions were carried out because of ‘risk of life or health (of the mother)’ while 3 were performed because of ‘risk to life or health in an emergency’.

“I would be particularly cautious about protesting against GPs because everybody is going there, and people go there for all sorts of reasons.”