Voluntary terminations of pregnancy rise to 98,136 in 2022, 9% more than in 2021

Voluntary terminations of pregnancy (IVE) carried out in Spain last year amounted to 98,136, 9% more than in 2021, of which only 17% were carried out in public centers and practically all of them were the sole decision of the woman without having to be informed by any doctor. These are the data from the State Registry of Voluntary Interruptions of Pregnancy that the Ministry of Health published this Thursday, which places the IVE rate in 2022 at 11.68 per 1,000 women between 15 and 44 years old, compared to 10.70 in 2021. It is the highest figure since 2013, when it reached 11.74. However, according to the General Directorate of Public Health, the number “is in line with the fluctuations in rates between 10 and 12 per thousand in recent years, and once the pandemic is over they adjust to the parameters of the last decade”.

The 98,316 abortions were performed in 222 authorized centers: 82.7% of them were referrals (arranged or not) and only 17.02% were public. Four communities (Cantabria, Extremadura, Castilla-La Mancha and Murcia) did not practice any IVE in public centers. By age, abortions increased in all age groups, especially in those from 20 to 24 (whose rate has increased from 16.09 to 18.32) and from 25 to 29 (15.54 in 2021 to 17.1 in 2022). Those under 20 years of age represented 10.61% of the total.

Four out of ten, 41.28%, declared not using any contraceptive method and almost three out of four, 73.04%, terminated their pregnancy before the eighth week of gestation; while the other 21.9% occurred between eight and 14 weeks. Thus, Health highlights, 94.94% of IVEs took place without having to be informed by any doctor, with the sole decision being made by the woman.

Regarding the reasons, in 91.2% of the cases it was at their own request (89,697), in 5.66% due to serious risk to the life or health of the pregnant woman (5,565) and in 2.79% (2,748) for serious anomalies in the fetus. 66.52% (65,402) of the women who decided to end their pregnancy in 2022 had not previously had an abortion, 22.24% (21,871) had already done so once and 7.02% had done so twice ( 6,972).

Of the total, half did not have any children and 23.5% already had one; Almost a third (32%, that is, 31,432 women) lived with their partner and, depending on the level of education, 19% had a university degree and 35% had a high school or vocational degree and 31.41% had a the ESO. More than half of the women (57.32%) were employed, 17.8% were unemployed and 12.67% were studying.

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