It is wonderful news that the number of abortions performed in New Zealand for 2010 were down on the previous year. There were 16,630 last year (17,550 in 2009). This is following a general trend since 2003 where abortion numbers peaked.
We need to be aware thought that these numbers only reflect legal abortions and does not include those babies who are born dead through “early inducement”. It also does not reflect the thousands of chemical abortions that occur each year through the use of the contaceptive pill and morning after pills.
These statitics though are cause for hope, and are encouraging for all who work to defend the right to life of all conceived children. We should not become complacent though, as each child who is killed in the womb is one too many.
For more detailed information on the abortion statistics for 2010 go to Statistics New Zealand.