Both a changing family model and economic insecurity are contributing to the surge in the termination of pregnancies, experts say.

In France, the number of abortions rose to nearly 242,000 by 2023, compared to less than 215,000 in the previous two decades, Le Monde reports. After 1975, when pregnancy termination was officially legalised, the number of abortions gradually decreased and stabilised at between 205 000 and 215 000 per year in the early 1990s. This was also linked to the spread of contraception. Magali Mazuy and Justine Chaput, demographers at the National Institute for Demographic Research (INED), cite ideological reasons for the decline in births since 2010.

« En 2022, 234 300 avortements ont été enregistrés en France. Selon le Worldometer Institute, l’avortement est aussi la première cause de mortalité dans le monde : 73 millions en 2022, soit 52 % des décès. »https://t.co/MzfFTj4G8s

— Campagne Québec-Vie (@CQV_QLC) November 30, 2024

The family model is changing, with marriage and childbearing becoming less of a priority for couples. Women focus on their careers and have their first child on average at the age of 29 (five years later than in 1974). In an interview for Le Monde, gynaecologist Sophie Gaudu said that economic and political reasons were also contributing to the growing number of abortions.

„The weakening of income purchasing power, the housing market crisis, the geopolitical situation with the war in Ukraine and the conflict in the Middle East, and the difficulty in finding work are all obstacles to maternity projects,”

the expert explained. It is also worth noting that France was the first country to include the right to abortion in its constitution this year.

The above statistics are not limited to France. In the Netherlands, the number of terminated pregnancies increased by 10% between 2022 and 2023. The same is true for the UK, where there was a 17 per cent hike between 2021 and 2022. The explanations all point to growing financial insecurity in Europe.