Increase in abortions among women aged 20-35

There were 19,578 abortions carried out in Belgium last year – 500 more than in 2010, De Standaard and Het Nieuwsblad report. The age group most affected is women aged 20 to 35, while the number of teenagers undergoing terminations has been stable for the past five years. Nearly 70 percent of women who have had an abortion are unmarried, while half have never had children. Forty percent consider themselves too young to have children, are still full-time students or simply do not want children. For 10 percent, a relationship problem was the deciding factor. For some, the reason given for multiple abortions was the unaffordability of the contraceptive pill.