Lothian teenage abortion rates at a five-year high

Published on Wednesday 30 June 2010 10:03

THE number of schoolgirls having abortions has reached a five-year high in the Lothians.

New figures have revealed there were 108 underage pregnancies in the region last year, with 71 being terminated.

Both figures are a rise on the previous year, with the number of abortions in girls aged 13 to 15 up from 62 in 2008 and the most since 2003.

Local health chiefs said they were working hard to get the number down but the figures have prompted strong criticism, particularly from the Catholic Church in Scotland.

Spokesman Peter Kearney said: "These statistics are further evidence of the chronic failure of almost two decades of misguided sexual health strategies in the Lothians.

"The reality is abortion has simply become a form of contraception and the fact that a human life is taken is completely ignored by the providers."

The statistics, released through ISD Scotland, also showed 567 pregnancies in those aged 16 and 17, and 1,347 among 18 to 20-year-olds in the Lothians.

Scotland's youngest ever mum fell pregnant aged only 11 in her home town of Livingston five years ago. Both she and her child were taken into care after the girl embarked on drinking sessions lasting days.

But while health agencies are keen to reduce the number of teenage pregnancies, the picture in the Lothians is better than many other health board areas, including Glasgow, Ayrshire, Tayside and Lanarkshire.

Jamie Megaw, strategic programme manager for NHS Lothian, said: "We're doing a great deal of work among young people to promote responsible relationships and to ensure that our services are readily accessible.

"This includes working closely with organisations supporting young people to encourage and enable them to make positive and informed choices about sexual health issues."

A new sexual health centre is due to open later this year in Edinburgh which will act as a one-stop shop for contraception, advice, and sexual health testing and diagnosis.

It is hoped its increased profile in the city centre will help encourage more awareness about underage pregnancy.

Meanwhile, politicians said action had to be taken on the link between deprivation and teenage pregnancy.

The figures also revealed that a girl in one of the most impoverished areas, such as Niddrie, would be ten times more likely to fall pregnant than someone of a similar age in richer areas such as Barnton.

Lib Dem public health spokesman Jamie Stone MSP said: "It is clear that the link between deprivation and teenage pregnancy and abortion rates is not diminishing. Young women in our most deprived areas are ten times more likely to become pregnant and twice as likely to have an abortion as those from more affluent areas.

"Ministers and health professionals need to work harder to stop the vicious cycle of deprivation and teenage pregnancy."