New figures from Public Health Scotland show that number of abortions in 2019 increased by 297 since 2018.

In total, there were 13, 583 abortions, the second highest ever. It’s also the highest abortion total for Scotland since 2008.

Home abortions rose from 29.9% of abortions in 2018, to 49.3% last year. In light of recent stories of women dying because of home abortion, this is a particular cause for concern.

Repeat abortions meanwhile increased from last year and there were also 581 abortions among women over 40, the highest number in this age group since the 1967 Abortion Act.

“Every one of these 13,583 abortions is a tragic loss of life. The increase in home abortions is especially concerning.

“Our aim as a genuinely caring society should be to reduce the number of abortions and provide more support for women experiencing crisis pregnancies."