Nearly a quarter of babies are aborted in England and Wales, shocking new statistics reveal.

Excluding stillbirths and miscarriages, 23.8 per cent of pregnancies were cut short by abortions in 2018.

While there were 657,076 live births last year, 205,295 unborn babies were killed – meaning that for every three babies born, there was one abortion.

Huge increase

Despite claims from activists that “criminalising abortion does not stop abortions”, the number has risen dramatically since the 1967 Abortion Act came into force in England and Wales.

In 1969, the first full year for which data was available, 6.4 per cent of pregnancies ended in abortion. This represents a 270 per cent increase over the last 50 years.

In Northern Ireland, the figure is much lower, as one in twenty pregnancies were ended by abortions last year.

Almost all of these abortions took place among those who travelled to England or Wales, as Northern Ireland’s strong pro-life laws only permit abortion in cases where the mother’s life is at risk.

‘National tragedy’

Catherine Robinson, a spokesperson for Right to Life UK, which compiled the figures, said it was a “national tragedy” that so many pregnancies end in abortion.

“Every one of these abortions represents a failure of our society to protect the lives of babies in the womb and a failure to offer full support to women with unplanned pregnancies.

“On the other hand, these figures show the dramatic difference that laws surrounding abortion make.”

‘No legal safeguards’

Robinson said that if Westminster’s new abortion regime for Northern Ireland comes into force in October, there will likely be “a rapid increase” in the number of abortions in the province.

She called the new laws “extreme” as it will introduce abortion on demand.