This article is from page 1 of the 2012-02-21 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 1 JPG
AT LEAST one woman from Clare travels to the UK each week for an abortion according to figures released to The Clare People . In 2010 seventy five women who gave addresses in County Clare attended clinics for pregnancy terminations in the UK, a figure 25 per cent higher than those who sought terminations just two years earlier in 2008, (60).
According to the figures, provided by the Department of Health in the UK, 216 women from the county made the journey to Britain between the years 2008 and 2010 to terminate a pregnancy. The Clare People were only supplied with the number of Clare addresses, not any of the names or addresses of those who used the UK services.
In 2009, the figure was 81. This number then dropped slightly to 75 in 2010, but still shows an increase of 25 per cent on 2008. This figure may be higher, as not all women give their actual address at abortion clin- ics in the UK. As many as 2,012 Irish women did not state their county of residence when seeking a termination between 2008 and 2010. Women from Clare represent 1.6 per cent of the Irish terminations carried out in England in these years.
Abortion numbers for Clare addresses are quite low in comparison to neighbouring Limerick and Galway. Approximately 460 women from Limerick travelled to the UK to seek terminations in the last three years, while Galway women account for 570 Irish terminations. However, these counties have large urban populations while Clare would be considered as a rural county.
According to prices quoted by the British Pregnancy Advisory Service, the cost of a termination can range from £525 to £1,660 for a surgical termination during the 19 to 24 week mark. Anyone who may be struggling to cope with an unplanned pregnancy can call Cura in Clare at 065-29905.