Over 11 million estimated lives lost on anniversary of Abortion Act

Monday saw the 58th anniversary of the Abortion Act, which came into effect in 1968. Since that time, Right to Life UK estimate that 11,105,671 unborn babies have lost their lives because of abortion.

The number of abortions across the whole of the United Kingdom have been steadily rising. The latest figures, which are from 2023, show that abortions in England and Wales, as well as Scotland, reached a record high. Abortions are also increasing in Northern Ireland with nearly 3,000 abortions in the year to the end of March 2025.

At the current rate of abortions, according to the most recent figures available, one baby is lost to abortion every two minutes, with 34 lives being lost each hour. The estimated number of abortions across the whole of the UK in 2023 was just under 300,000, the highest number ever recorded.

Right to Life UK estimate that the total number of babies lost to abortion since the Abortion Act came into law to be 11,105,671. Since the latest figures are for 2023, this assumes that the rate of abortions stays the same and abortions are evenly distributed across the year.

Spokesperson for Right To Life UK, Catherine Robinson, said: “The UK’s abortion law is failing both women and unborn babies. It is a national tragedy that 11,105,671 lives have been lost since the Abortion Act 1967 came into effect, each one a unique and valuable human being who was denied the right to life”.

“The societal effects of this loss of life are almost incalculable,” she continued. “There are literally millions of ‘missing’ people because of abortion … Every one of these abortions represents a collective failure of our society to protect the lives of babies in the womb and a failure to offer full support to women with unplanned pregnancies”.

This anniversary comes as the Crime and Policing Bill, which decriminalises abortion up to birth, has cleared Parliament and is ready for Royal Assent. Opinion polls suggest that the public want increased protection for unborn babies, and only 1% support abortion up to birth. 70% of the public want to see the abortion limit reduced to 20 weeks or lower.