The number of women who had abortions in Ireland last year rose to 10,852. The figure, which was released by the Department of Health, represents the highest number of terminations carried out since the law was changed following the 2018 referendum.
The majority (10,711) were early pregnancy terminations, where a woman takes two types of medicines prescribed by a GP up to 12 weeks of pregnancy.
A total of 108 terminations were due to a diagnosed fatal foetal abnormality where there was a condition likely to lead to death of the foetus.
A further 24 pregnancies were terminated due to risk to the life or health of the mother, while nine terminations involved an emergency intervention.
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The highest number of terminations in 2024 were recorded in January (1,056), May (967) and July (952) with the lowest in February (820).
Dublin was the area of residence given by 4,125 women, with 957 from Cork and 507 from Galway. A total of 450 women did not disclose their county while eight travelled from Northern Ireland. The number of terminations carried out in 2023 was 10,033.
About 240 women travel to the UK from Ireland every year to access abortion care, said the National Women’s Council.
Barrister Marie O’Shea was commissioned by the Department of Health to conduct a review on foot of the introduction of abortion legislation three years after its implementation in early 2019.
Among her recommendations were that the mandatory three-day waiting period, before termination medication can be prescribed, be made optional.
Speaking last year, Ms O’Shea called on the Government to prioritise ongoing issues with the legislation, saying vulnerable women who continue to be forced abroad for terminations were being treated like “criminals”.
