Teens in Haringey 'choose motherhood over abortion' (From Haringey Independent)

Teens in Haringey 'choose motherhood over abortion'

12:31pm Wednesday 26th May 2010 in

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DESPITE Haringey having one of the highest teenage pregnancy rates, abortion figures among the same group represent only six per cent of women who undergo the procedure.

Of the 1,502 women who had abortions in 2009, only 88 of them are 18-years-old or younger. While women aged between 20 and 29 account for 63 per cent of the total. Those aged 30 plus represent 28 per cent.

The figures, published by the Department of Health today, also showed that 82 per cent of the procedures were NHS funded.

And over a third of all women under the age of 25 who had abortions in 2009 had undergone the procedure before.

Anne Quesney, UK policy and parliamentary advisor for Marie Stopes, said: "All I can draw from the figures is that there must be a lot of teenage mothers in Haringey. This is not necessarily a bad thing, if this is the choice they have made, and they are being supported.

"Teenage pregnancy is a very complex issue which the previous Government had spent tackling, with encouraging results, for more than a decade. Research shows it is linked to social deprivation. And young girls with low aspirations, are more likely to become mothers."

She added: "The group with the higher rates of abortion reflects the national trend of women in their early 20s. This is a time when many women are studying or starting careers and might not be sure if they are ready to take on parenthood."

Ms Quesney emphasised that, with abortion, there wasn't a "type" of woman who had abortions, and stressed clinics welcomed women of all backgrounds, countries and ages.

She said it was something that could happen to "any woman, at any time" if they were sexually active.