Britain’s National Health Service spends $1.6 million a week on repeat abortions
Pregnant Susanne Friis Hasche shows her stomach painted by Danish artist Lotte Ipsen during a photo exhibition on August 12, 2011, in the Round Tower of Copenhagen.
Britain's National Health Service (NHS) is spending around 1 million pounds ($1.6 million) in taxpayers’ money each week providing repeat abortions, the Telegraph reported.
The figures have sparked warnings by critics of abortion legislation that many British women view abortion as just another form of contraception, according to Britain's Daily Mail.
Some women have had up to nine terminations in their lifetime, with instances of girls as young as 12 using the NHS to access abortions.
According to the paper, which cited Department of Health statistics, around a third of all abortions in England and Wales are repeats, and in the London borough of Croydon, almost half are repeats.
Single or unmarried women account for five out of every six repeat terminations.
However, the report did not provide any data or information on women’s reasons or motivations for seeking an abortion.
Stuart Cowie, a spokesman for lobby group LIFE, told Marie Claire UK that abortions-on-demand trivialized the process.
But a Health Department spokeswoman said abortion rates had increased only slightly over the past decade, and that there was no evidence showing that women were using abortion as a method of birth control.
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The report comes a month after a survey found that the majority of Brits believed the NHS should only fund abortions in emergency cases.
According to the Angus Reid Public Opinion poll, cited by deadlinenews.co.uk, 30 percent of respondents said the NHS should fund abortions whenever they were requested, while 56 percent said doctors should give an abortion in the event of medical emergencies.
The Daily Mail reported in 2010 that Polish women are being enticed to Britain for free NHS abortions and to avoid strict laws at home.
They are being urged to take advantage of cheap flights and hotels as part of a poster campaign featuring a semi-naked woman with the words "my choice" written across her stomach.
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