Editing Abortion in the United Kingdom (section)

===Legal abortions by ground===
Statistics for legal abortions are published annually by the Department of Health and Social Care, for England and Wales, NHS Scotland, and the Department of Health in Northern Ireland. Where there is only a small number of abortions for a particular ground, the number is not published by statisticians to avoid the risk of disclosing the identity of the persons involved.

Legal abortions were carried out on the following grounds in England and Wales in 2020:

{| class="wikitable"
|+ ''Abortion statistics for England and Wales 2020''<ref>{{Cite web |title=abortion-statistics-2020-data-tables_Final |url=https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/992250/abortion-statistics-2020-data-tables_Final.ods |website=assets.publishing.service.gov.uk}}</ref>
|-
! Primary ground !! Number !! % !! Notes
|-
| Grounds A/F/G || 98 || 0.05 || Risk to life of pregnant woman (or in emergencies)
|-
| Ground B || 31 || 0.01 || Prevent grave permanent injury to pregnant woman
|-
| Ground C || 206,768 || 98.1 || Risk of injury to physical/mental health of pregnant woman
|-
| Ground D || 778 || 0.37 || Risk of injury to physical/mental health of other children
|-
| Ground E || 3,185 || 1.51 || Physical or mental abnormality in unborn child
|-
| '''Total''' || '''210,860''' || '''100.0''' ||
|}

Nearly all (99.9%) of abortions carried out under Ground C alone were reported as being performed because of a risk to the woman's mental health and were classified as F99 (mental disorder, not otherwise specified) under the [[ICD-10]] classification system.<ref name="stats">{{cite web |title=Abortion statistics for England and Wales 2020, 4.7 Statutory grounds for abortion |url=https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/abortion-statistics-for-england-and-wales-2020/abortion-statistics-england-and-wales-2020 |website=www.gov.uk |publisher=Department of Health and Social Care |access-date=12 January 2022}}</ref>

Legal abortions were carried out on the following grounds in Scotland in the same year:

{| class="wikitable"
|+ ''Termination of pregnancy statistics for Scotland 2020''<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.publichealthscotland.scot/publications/termination-of-pregnancy-statistics/termination-of-pregnancy-statistics-year-ending-december-2020 | title=Termination of pregnancy statistics - Year ending December 2020 - Termination of pregnancy statistics - Publications - Public Health Scotland }}</ref>
|-
! Primary ground !! Number !! % !! Notes
|-
| Grounds A/B/D/F/G || 34 || 0.25 || Risk to life of pregnant woman (and other grounds not listed below)
|-
| Ground C || 13,572 || 98.2 || Risk of injury to physical/mental health of pregnant woman
|-
| Ground E || 209 || 1.51 || Physical or mental abnormality in unborn child
|-
| '''Total''' || '''13,815''' || '''100.0''' ||
|}

In Northern Ireland, the total number of terminations in 2017–2018 was 12, followed by 8 in 2018–2019, and 22 in 2019–2020.<ref>{{cite web |title=Northern Ireland Termination of Pregnancy Statistics 2019/20 |url=https://www.health-ni.gov.uk/publications/northern-ireland-termination-pregnancy-statistics-201920 |website=www.health-ni.gov.uk |date=18 January 2021 |publisher=Department of Health |access-date=12 January 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-northern-ireland-51205447|title=NI abortion: Eight abortions in NI hospitals during 2018–19|first=Catherine|last=Smyth|work=BBC News|date=22 January 2020|access-date=12 February 2020}}</ref> As indicated above, for most of that time, abortions were permitted there if the act was to save the life of the mother, or if there was a risk of permanent and serious damage to the mental or physical health of the mother.

In 2020, a total of 371 women travelling from Northern Ireland received abortions in England and Wales:
*367 – due to risk of injury to physical or mental health of the pregnant woman; and
*4 – due to physical or mental abnormality in the unborn child.<ref>{{cite web |title=Abortion statistics 2020: data tables, Table 12g |url=https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/992250/abortion-statistics-2020-data-tables_Final.ods |website=www.gov.uk |publisher=Department of Health and Social Care}}</ref>

In the same year, 194 women travelling from the [[Republic of Ireland]] received abortions in England and Wales:
*131 – due to risk of injury to physical or mental health of the pregnant woman; and
*63 – due to physical or mental abnormality in the unborn child.<ref>{{cite web |title=Abortion statistics 2020: data tables, Table 12e |url=https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/992250/abortion-statistics-2020-data-tables_Final.ods |website=www.gov.uk |publisher=Department of Health and Social Care}}</ref>

The number of pregnant women from the island of Ireland travelling for an abortion was previously much more significant although this decreased following changes in legislation in both Northern Ireland and the Republic, and travel restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic. Scottish statistics for abortion record the place of residence of the pregnant woman within Scotland (i.e. an NHS board or a local government area); these figures includes temporary addresses for students and a small number of women travelling to Scotland from elsewhere.<ref>{{cite web |title=Termination of pregnancy statistics year ending December 2020 |url=https://publichealthscotland.scot/media/7976/2021-05-25-terminations-2020-report.pdf |date= 25 May 2021 |page= 18 |access-date=12 January 2022}}</ref>

==== Ethnicity ====
The broad multi-ethnic group of those getting an abortion is as follows:
{| class="wikitable"
! rowspan="3" |Ethnic group
! colspan="11" |Year<ref name="Abortion statistics archive">{{Cite web |title=Abortion statistics archive |url=https://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ukgwa/20130123231223/http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Statistics/StatisticalWorkAreas/Statisticalpublichealth/index.htm |access-date=2022-11-24 |website=webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk}}</ref><ref name="gov.uk">{{Cite web |title=Abortion statistics in England and Wales |url=https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/abortion-statistics-for-england-and-wales |access-date=2022-11-24 |website=GOV.UK |language=en}}</ref>
|-
!2002
!2003
!2005
!2007
!2009
!2011
!2013
!2015
!2017
!2019
!2021
|-
! colspan="11" |Percentage % (excludes Not Stated)
|-
|White
|75
|76
|74
|75
|76
|76
|76
|77
|78
|77
|78
|-
|Mixed / British Mixed
|3
|2
|2
|3
|3
|3
|3
|4
|4
|4
|5
|-
|Asian / Asian British
|7
|7
|8
|8
|9
|10
|9
|9
|9
|9
|9
|-
|Black / Black British
|12
|12
|13
|11
|10
|9
|9
|8
|8
|8
|7
|-
|Chinese or other groups
|3
|3
|3
|3
|2
|2
|3
|2
|2
|2
|1
|}
By individual ethnic group, including numbers and those which do not state an ethnicity:
{| class="wikitable sortable mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"
! rowspan="3" |Ethnic group
! colspan="8" |Year<ref name="gov.uk"/><ref name="Abortion statistics archive"/> (includes Not stated as percentage)
|-
! colspan="2" |2006
! colspan="2" |2011
! colspan="2" |2016
! colspan="2" |2021
|-
!Population
!%
!Population
!%
!Population
!%
!Population
!%
|-
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|-
![[White people in the United Kingdom|White]]: Total
!123,847
!63.9%
!135,916
!71.6%
!138,958
!74.9%
!151,639
!70.8%
|-
|White: [[White British|British]]
|111,888
|57.8%
|121,238
|63.8%
|120,284
|64.8%
|134,000
|62.5%
|-
|White: [[Irish Briton|Irish]]
|920
|
|912
|
|1,163
|
|1,194
|
|-
|White: [[White Other (United Kingdom Census)|Other]]
|11,039
|
|13,766
|
|17,511
|
|16,445
|
|-
![[Asian people|Asian]] or [[British Asian|Asian British]]: Total
!15,930
!8.2%
!19,657
!10.3%
!17,358
!9.4%
!18,089
!8.4%
|-
|Asian or Asian British: [[Non-resident Indian and person of Indian origin|Indian]]
|5,685
|
|6,840
|
|5,989
|
|6,945
|
|-
|Asian or Asian British: [[British Pakistani|Pakistani]]
|3,080
|
|3,715
|
|3,867
|
|4,389
|
|-
|Asian or Asian British: [[British Bangladeshi|Bangladeshi]]
|1,335
|
|1,691
|
|1,625
|
|1,741
|
|-
|Asian or Asian British: [[British Asian|Asian Other]]
|3,799
|
|5,419
|
|4,323
|
|4,176
|
|-
|Asian or Asian British: [[British Chinese|Chinese]]
|2,031
|
|1,992
|
|1,554
|
|838
|
|-
![[Black people|Black]] or [[Black British]]: Total
!19,652
!10.1%
!16,399
!8.6%
!13,876
!7.5%
!13,836
!6.5%
|-
|Black or Black British: [[British African-Caribbean community|Caribbean]]
|5,536
|
|4,878
|
|4,201
|
|3,689
|
|-
|Black or Black British: [[Black British|African]]
|12,206
|
|10,616
|
|8,842
|
|8,337
|
|-
|Black or Black British: [[Other Black|Other]]
|1,910
|
|905
|
|833
|
|1,810
|
|-
![[British Mixed]]: Total
!4,260
!2.2%
!5,414
!2.9%
!6,675
!3.6%
!9,453
!4.4%
|-
|Mixed: [[White people|White]] and [[British African-Caribbean community|Caribbean]]
|1,591
|
|2,131
|
|2,919
|
|4,031
|
|-
|Mixed: [[White people|White]] and [[Black British|African]]
|628
|
|958
|
|941
|
|1,339
|
|-
|Mixed: [[White people|White]] and [[British Asian|Asian Other]]
|568
|
|632
|
|954
|
|1,339
|
|-
|Mixed: [[Multiracial|Other Mixed]]
|1,473
|
|1,693
|
|1,861
|
|2,744
|
|-
!Other: Total
!2,100
!1.1%
!2,300
!1.2%
!2,512
!1.4%
!1,209
!0.6%
|-
|Other: Any other ethnic group
|2,100
|1.1%
|2,300
|1.2%
|2,512
|1.4%
|1,209
|0.6%
|-
!Not known/stated
!27,948
!14.4%
!10,245
!5.4%
!6,217
!3.3%
!19,995
!9.3%
|-
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|-
!Total
!193,737
!100%
!189,931
!100%
!185,596
!100%
!214,256
!100%
|}