June 27, 2017.
According to the latest report from the Department of Studies of the Ministry of Health (DREES), the number of cases of voluntary termination of pregnancy (abortion) in 2016 fell slightly.
1 abortion for 4 births
La Drees, the statistical service of the Ministry of Health, recorded the number of abortions that were performed in 2016 and found that this number had fallen for the 3e consecutive year: 211,900 voluntary terminations of pregnancy were counted last year. In 2015, more than 219,000 abortions were performed for some 800,000 pregnancies.
” Each year, there is about one abortion for just under four births », Specified the Drees. And there would be a real difference between metropolitan France and overseas: “ the rate of abortion is 13.9 per 1,000 women aged 15 to 49 in metropolitan France and 25.2 in the overseas departments and regions (Drom) », Adds the statistical service. A notorious difference that the Drees does not explain.
Women on contraceptives
There are also differences between the different metropolitan regions: there are indeed nearly 10 abortions per 1,000 women in Pays-de-la-Loire and more than 20 per 1,000 women in Provence-Alpes-Côte-d’Azur. The women who have the most abortion are those aged 20 to 24, with a rate of 26 abortions per 1,000 women. It will also be noted that ” the overall rate has been falling among the under-20s since 2010 “.
What particularly concerns Veronica Noseda, national coordinator of family planning, is thata large proportion of abortions take place while the women are on contraceptives. ” This shows a poor match between the needs and the contraceptive supply », She explained in the columns of The cross. And to note that France is ” a country where the rates of access to contraception and abortion are high “.
Marine Rondot
Read also: Getting informed about abortion
