LAST year saw more than 10,000 teenage girls having abortions in Spain, according to the ministry of health.

A total of 115,812 women opted to terminate unwanted pregnancies, of which 10,221 were aged between 15 and 18.

However, the ministry says that these figures are relatively similar to those of 2007, a year that saw a whopping 10.3 per cent increase in the numbers.

In fact, the number of underage girls having abortions fell slightly last year, by around 1.27 per cent.

On average, 1.15 per cent of women considered to be fertile - between the ages of 25 and 44 - have abortions.

Two-thirds of terminations are carried out within the first two months, and just over two thirds involve single women.

A quarter of women who have abortions are married, and a surprising 45 per cent of the total already have children.

Around 44 per cent of women who abort are foreign.

Abortion laws have recently changed, meaning that women no longer have to seek permission from a doctor and a psychologist before being able to terminate a pregnancy, and are able to make their choice freely.

Additionally, girls aged 16 or over may have abortions without telling, or obtaining the consent of, their parents, whereas previously this was not the case until the age of 18.