In figures released today, the number of women who are getting repeat pregnancy abortions has reached a new record high. New statistics show that of the women who received abortions last year, one third of them were already on their second, fourth, or even eight termination. This has sparked debate about whether abortions are simply being used as a form of contraception.

In 2008, the figures show that there were 64,715 repeat abortions, and a further breakdown indicated that 11,354 were on their third abortion, with 2,780 on their fourth. The statistics also show that 46 women had received a total of eight or more pregnancy terminations.

According to 2007 figures, the number of abortions in teenage girls had dropped, which the health minister, Dawn Primarolo said was key, because it showed that teenagers are taking better contraceptive measures to begin with. Most of the abortions taking place were also noted to be those using the abortion pill rather than medical abortions, as women have been going for abortion help and using abortion clinics before 10 weeks of gestation.