 THREE in 10 women in Spain who have had abortions this year say it was because of financial problems or unemployment.
The sad truth behind pregnancy terminations – of which 2012 has already seen 5,010 – has been revealed by research conducted by the national association for accredited abortion clinics, and shows that over 30 per cent of women who find they are expecting an unplanned child opt for this drastic action because they are out of work or in poorly-paid employment and fear they will be unable to support their new offspring.
Only four per cent of women who had abortions this year were under 18 – a total of 204 – and none as yet have been under 16.
Nearly nine per cent of women interviewed say they had – or would have – had an abortion due to their age, either because they felt they were too young, or too old.
Another 6.8 per cent said they had terminated their pregnancy because they were either going to be single mothers or did not have sufficient support from either their partners or their family to enable them to bring up a child.
The majority – 48.5 per cent – said they had had an abortion because they were not ready or able to have a child, or for those who already had one or more children, were not in a position or did want to have any more.
Only around five per cent ended their pregnancies on the grounds of their own or their unborn child's health.
All bar two per cent of terminations were carried out prior to the 14th week of pregnancy, and 54 per cent before the seventh week.
Two thirds of women who had an abortion were Spanish; two thirds of the total had an education of at least university level, but only 43 per cent of the total were in employment.
The survey also found that only six in 10 women who were sexually active with men used any form of contraception, pointing to a need for sex education in reducing potential abortion numbers.
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