In March 2023, the new law on abortion came into force which, in addition to removing the parental authorization required for girls aged 16 and 17 and established by the PP, guarantees that terminations of pregnancy are carried out in the framework of public health care. However, the first data collection since then – which covers a nine-month period since the reform was implemented – reveals that 81.45% of voluntary terminations of pregnancy (abortions) in Spain continued to be carried out during the year last in private (or concerted) clinics. , where women do not pay). In 2022, this figure was only one point higher (82.7%). Those which are practiced in public remain a minority.
The intention of the reform was to usher in a paradigm shift in Spain in terms of benefits. There are communities that in recent years have not reported any abortions in the public network, which has forced thousands of women to travel outside their province to undergo the procedure, because in their area there are no there are no private clinics with which to organize the service. and hospitals refuse to resume this practice. Concretely, the rule establishes in article 19 that interventions must be carried out “in a public health center” and only “exceptionally” in a private center.
Throughout 2023, Spain recorded 103,097 voluntary terminations of pregnancy, 4.8% more than in 2022 (98,316) and 8.7% more than in 2014, according to the latest report from the Ministry of Health, made public this Saturday. The IVI rate was 12.22 per 1,000 women aged 15 to 44 years.
“These data exceed both the rate of 11.68 recorded in 2022 and that of 10.46 in 2014, indicating an increase in the incidence of this procedure in recent years,” emphasizes the team led by Minister Mónica García in a press release. Catalonia (14.92) and the Community of Madrid (13.92) are the regions with the highest rates, while Aragon (8.4) has the lowest. The increase occurred in all age groups, but especially among the youngest (under 20), according to Health.
Most before eight weeks
Three out of four interventions were carried out during the first eight weeks of gestation and almost 94% were carried out at the request of the women (98,850). There were also 3,294 abortions motivated by a serious risk to the life or health of the pregnant woman; 2,688 concerned serious problems in the fetus and 263 due to fetal anomalies incompatible with life or extremely serious or incurable illnesses.
The Ministry of Health highlights, among the data in the report, that 46.5% of women who had an interrupted pregnancy did not use any contraceptive method. Nearly one in three (30.69%) lived as a couple.
Concerning the centers, 230 declared voluntary terminations of pregnancies, eight more than in 2022. 16,845 abortions were performed in hospitals (8,201 in public and 8,644 in private); while the majority of interventions took place in extra-hospital centers (10,924 in public and 73,328 in private).
In addition, 69.77% of the interventions were carried out by surgical method, although the pharmacological method is already the majority in some communities such as Cantabria (96.50%), Navarra (76%), Balearic Islands (74% ), La Rioja. (68%), Galicia (59.6%) and Catalonia (55.74%).
