THE number of pregnancies terminated in Blackburn with Darwen is at its highest level, with increases recorded in the 25-plus category and 18-to-19 age group.

Data published by the department for health and social care reveal that 548 abortions took place in Blackburn with Darwen in 2018, up by 13 on 2017 and an increase of 59 since 2012.

A breakdown of the numbers reveal the biggest increase was in the 18-to-19 category where terminations increased from 36 in 2017 to 44 in 2018.

Terminations in the 25-to-29 and 30-to-34 category showed year-on-year increases from 2016.

In East Lancashire, pregnancy terminations increased by 60 to 1447, with the biggest increase recorded in the 35-plus category, where abortions increased by 32 to 208, a rise of 29 was reported in the 30-to-34 category taking the number up to 282.

But there was a fall in the number of pregnancy terminations in the under-18 and 18-to-19-category.

The figures were published as local government public health bosses joined calls for funding cuts to be reversed

The Health Foundation and the King’s Fund called for a “clear and urgent” commitment to restore the public health grant to its original level in order to allow local authorities such as Blackburn with Darwen Council to deliver vital services to protect and improve health.

Analysis by the organisations shows that the grant, which currently amounts to £3.1bn a year, is now £850m lower in real terms than it was when it was initially allocated four years ago, and faces a further real-terms cut of £50m next year under provisional spending plans, representing a total real-terms cut of 25 per cent.

Cllr Ian Hudspeth, chairman of the Local Government Association’s Community Wellbeing Board, said many local authorities are having to "make difficult decisions".

He said that central government needed to recognise that service, including sexual health services "cannot be seen as an added extra for health budgets".

Marie Stopes UK which provides reproductive healthcare said women in the higher age group need access to good contraception services.

The organisation’s medical director Imogen Stephens said: “These figures come at the same time as we are hearing stories from women that they have become pregnant while trying to access effective contraception.

“Today, more than eight million women of reproductive age live in an area where the council has reduced funding for sexual and reproductive health services, leading to the closure of clinics and longer waiting lists.

“When women do manage to find a service, they may be denied the full range of contraception, including some of the most effective methods.

“Overall, abortion rates are increasing among older women, while rates for younger women are falling.

“This illustrates that women need access to good contraception services across their reproductive lifetimes, from the point at which they become sexually active right through to their menopause.”

Nationally there were there were 200,608 abortions for women resident in England and Wales in 2018, up four per cent on the 192,900 the previous year.

Clare Murphy, director of external affairs at abortion provider the British Pregnancy Advisory Service, said: “The reasons for the increase in abortions for older women in England and Wales are complex.

“Accessible contraceptive services are often focused on the needs of younger women and women over the age of 25 can in particular find themselves excluded from schemes providing free, pharmacy access to emergency contraception.

“As so many women in the UK rely on pills and condoms as their main methods of contraception, it is vital that there is swift access to emergency options when those methods fail or a pill is missed.”

She said greater access to services was also needed for women who are already mothers.

“Unplanned pregnancy in the year after birth is not uncommon, particularly among women who are breastfeeding,” she said .

“However, it is also possible that over the longer term couples are making different decisions about family size and the number of children they can afford.

"he said greater access to services was also needed for women who are already mothers.

"The two-child benefit cap was designed to influence reproductive decision-making and we are certainly aware of cases where that has been a factor in a woman's decision to end a third, unplanned pregnancy."

Clare McCarthy, spokeswoman for the Right to Life charity, said:”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.

"Proposals from abortion campaigners to remove legal restrictions around abortion and introduce abortion right to birth would likely see these numbers get even worse."

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