The number of voluntary terminations of pregnancy (abortions) increased in 2022, reaching its highest level since 1990, according to a study of the Directorate of Research, Studies, Evaluation and Statistics (Drees), published Wednesday September 27. The pandemic led to an exceptional drop in the number of abortions in 2020 and 2021.
In total, 234,300 abortions were recorded in France in 2022, i.e. 17,000 more than in 2021 and around 7,000 more than in 2019. The rate of recourse to abortion exceeds the level of 2019 – which was at the time the highest since 1990 – with 16.2 abortions per 1,000 women aged 15 to 49 in 2021, compared to 15 per 1,000 in 2020 and 15.7 per 1,000 in 2019.
The report, published annually, takes stock of abortions with regard to the age of the women, their department of residence, the term of pregnancy, the method used and the place where the abortion was carried out (establishment of health or private practice).
An increase uncorrelated with the extension of the legal deadline
The two-week extension (from 12 to 14) of the legal appeal period, provided for in the law of March 2022, “is not enough to explain this increase”notes the Drees, because the most late abortions represent “less than a fifth of the surplus observed compared to the year 2021”.
It is among women aged 20 to 29 that abortions remain the most frequent, with a recourse rate of 26.9 abortions per 1,000 women between 20 and 24 years old (+ 2.6 points compared to 2021) and 28.6 abortions per 1,000 between 25 and 29 years old (+ 2.2 points). Between 2021 and 2022, “recourse rates are increasing for all adult women with a more marked increase among 20-29 year olds”notes Drees.
As for territorial disparities, they remain, with a recourse rate which can “vary from single to double” depending on the region, but which is generally increasing in all metropolitan regions as well as in the overseas departments and regions, with the exception of Guadeloupe.