Abortion rate still rising

1.00pm

There were 1130 more abortions in New Zealand last year than in 2002 and one in three of the women who had them had already had an abortion previously.

The figures, released today by Statistics New Zealand, show there were 18,510 abortions performed in 2003, a 6.5 per cent increase on the 17,380 in 2002.

The abortion rate also increased from 20 per 1000 women aged 15-44 in 2002 to 21 per 1000 last year.

One in three abortions were performed on women who had previously had an abortion, while one in 10 of the women who had an abortion last year had already had two or more abortions.

New Zealand women had proportionately three times more abortions than women in Germany and the Netherlands, double those in Finland and Scotland, and higher rates than France, Japan, Denmark, Norway, England, Wales and Sweden.

Australia and the United States had higher abortion rates among other "low fertility" countries.

"International comparisons are affected by both statistical coverage and laws relating to induced abortion. Consequently, differences between New Zealand and other countries' abortion rates should be interpreted with care," the Statistics NZ report says.

In New Zealand, the 20-24 age group was the most common age to have abortions, accounting for three out of 10 abortions. The median age for women to have abortions has remained stable for a decade at around 25.

Last year 89 girls aged 11-14 had abortions while 38 women aged 45 and over had them.

- NZPA