Abortion rates highest in Left-wing cities
A Telegraph analysis of Office for National Statistics (ONS) data found the abortion rate was highest in Liverpool and Brighton and Hove (40.3 per cent).
The top six local authorities with the highest rates are currently under Labour control, including Liverpool, Nottingham and the London boroughs of Lambeth and Southwark.
Manchester, Warrington, Islington and Camden also all posted termination rates above a third in 2022.
However, the reverse is true at the opposite end of the scale in East Cambridgeshire, where the rate is 18.6 per cent.
No party enjoys overall control of East Cambridgeshire council, but the Conservatives have been the largest party for over a decade.
Of the 10 councils with the lowest proportion of conceptions resulting in abortions, only one, Bolsover, Derbyshire, stands out as a long-term Labour stronghold.
It comes as the ONS found that the percentage of conceptions leading to an abortion reached a record high of 29.7 per cent in 2022 – a rise of almost 10 percentage points since 2021 when it was 20.8 per cent.
Separate data released by the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities reveal the highest year-on-year leap in the number of abortions in 50 years since decriminalisation began.
In 2021, the number was 214,869. However, by 2022 the figure jumped 17.3 per cent to 252,122.
The figures follow a landmark House of Commons vote in June to decriminalise abortion at any point up to birth for any reason, marking the biggest change to abortion laws in England and Wales for nearly 60 years.
Anti-abortion campaigners have claimed that the latest figures show how society has 'dehumanised life in the womb', while others claim that the cost of living crisis has made having children untenable for young people.
Responding to the figures, Andrea Williams, chief executive of Christian Concern, described the figures as 'deeply troubling', adding that they 'reveal a silent crisis among our young people'.
'A whole generation is growing up unable to see the humanity of the children they are carrying. That is not just their fault but ours,' she said.
'We have allowed a culture to grow where the truth about pregnancy that there are two lives involved has not been made known.
'We have dehumanised life in the womb to the detriment of what it means to be a woman and a mother and to the detriment of society.
'When over half of all teenage pregnancies now end in abortion, and nearly half of 20 to 24-year-olds make the same choice, it is clear that society has lost its moral compass. We are not empowering young people, we are abandoning them.'
Catherine Robinson, spokesman for Right To Life UK, said that the huge increase in abortions between 2021 and 2022 corresponds to the second full year that at-home abortion services were operating in England and Wales during the pandemic.
She added that the availability of abortion through the 'pills by post' abortion service is likely the reason for this increase.
However, Dr Jonathan Lord, co-chairman of the Royal College of Obstetricans and Gynaecologists abortion taskforce, said: 'Abortion providers are very aware that the need for this essential healthcare has increased year on year, but changes to the regulations that now permit early medical abortion at home have meant waiting times haven't been affected.
'The use of telemedicine has meant that despite the increased demand, women and girls have been able to access abortion care earlier in their pregnancy.'
Analysis of the ONS data also shows the increase in the number of abortions is being led by young people, with more than half of all conceptions for under-19s now resulting in abortion.
The proportion of conceptions leading to an abortion rose by 16.1 points between 2012 and 2022 for 18- and 19-year-olds, soaring from 39.7 to 55.8 per cent.
The pace of increase was equally significant among those aged 20 to 24, for whom the share of terminated pregnancies is approaching half (44.6 per cent).
Meanwhile, the share for those aged 40 has risen beyond a third for the first time (36 per cent).
The ONS data also show that the 607,900 births recorded in 2022 was the lowest recorded since 2002, when the figure was 599,500. The female population of England and Wales back then was nearly four million lower.
The current law in England and Wales states that abortion is illegal, however it is allowed up to the first 24 weeks of pregnancy, and only after that in specific circumstances, such as if the woman's life is in danger.
The landslide vote now means that women who terminate their pregnancy outside the cut off period of 24 weeks will no longer be at risk of being investigated by police.
The change marks the biggest update to abortion legislation since the Abortion Act 1967, which legalised abortion in Britain.
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