Outcry at abortion rise

Anti-abortion campaigners have condemned the latest abortion figures.

Last year, 18,510 abortions were performed, 6.5 per cent more than the 17,380 in 2002.

A spokeswoman for the Society for the Protection of the Unborn Child, Carmel Armstrong, said this was a massive increase.

"For every 2.9 live births there is now one child aborted.

"We've got it wrong and it's mind-numbing. We have a major crisis on our hands."