According to a study of the statistical service of the social ministries, the DREES based on data from health establishments and reimbursements from Health Insurance in 2017, the number of abortions in France is stable. It is 216,000, i.e. one abortion for approximately 4 pregnancies. The study points the finger at many geographical disparities and tells us that women aged 20 to 24 are those who abort the most.
According to regions and ages, abortion figures vary from simple to double
In the Pays de la Loire, abortion is 10.2 per 1000 women, against 20.8 per 1000 on the Côte d’Azur. It is in the DOM TOM that the figures are the highest with 33 abortions for 1000 women in Guadeloupe.
According to the DREES study, it is on the side of minors that the disparities are the greatest, they are between 13.6 and 18.3 per 1000 to have an abortion in the DOM TOM. Figures much higher than in mainland France where they oscillate between 4.0 and 8.8 per 1000. That said, the study notes a drop in abortions of minors, with an overall average of 6.3 per 1000.
The highest abortion rate is among women aged 20 to 24. The French average is 14.4 per 1000, whereas for this age group the figures are much higher and reach 26.7 per 1000 women.
Medical abortions in the lead
Medical abortions are on the rise. They can be performed up to the 7th week of pregnancy (against 12 weeks for a surgical abortion) and outside hospitals. They are authorized by independent doctors, in health centres, family planning and education centres, and by midwives.
In 2001, one third of abortions were medical, compared to two thirds surgical. Today the trend has changed radically, 59% of abortions in hospitals are medicated (against 10% in 1992). And 22% of abortions are performed outside the hospital, and are therefore of the medical type. Seventeen years later, it’s the exact opposite of 2001: two-thirds of abortions are done via medication.
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