Every half hour an abortion is performed on a girl under 20 in Spain

Madrid, Spain, Sep 25, 2008 / 13:12 pm

The Institute for Family Policy in Spain said this week the number of abortions in that country has increased by 35% in the last four years and by 155% in the last ten.

According to the organization, one of every two pregnancies in adolescent girls ends in abortion in Spain, with 13,894 abortions having taken place in 2006.  It also said that every day at least one abortion is performed on girls under the age of 15.

Extremadura is the region with the greatest percentage of adolescent abortions, with one in five abortions (19.9 %) being performed on girls under the age of 20.  In Madrid the number is 11.57%.

The Institute said in response that the failure of the morning after pill was “evident,” and that there was a direct relationship between the increase in its use and the increase in the number of abortions.

“Every half hour in Spain a girl under the age of 20 receives an abortion, and each day there is at least one abortion performed on girls under the age of 15 (496 abortions in 2006).  In 99.5% of the cases there is a psychological or physical risk for the mother. This data should make us reflect on what is happening,” said Eduardo Hertfelder, president of the Institute.

Hertfelder criticized Spanish government officials for their “erroneous and out-dated” policy and for provoking an increase in the number of abortions, and he said there should be a change in strategy to respond to “indiscriminate promotion of the morning after pill among adolescents and of abortion as a solution.”