300,000 abortions in one year? Silence is no longer an option for Christians

The latest abortion statistics reveal a bleak national picture, including thousands of disability-selective terminations. Abortion has become normalised, and its deeply personal nature has made it too easy for Christians to stay silent. But as UK law becomes more extreme, the Church faces a defining moment, argues former MP Caroline Ansell. Abortion represents one of the gravest moral failures of our time, and faithfulness now demands clarity, compassion and action. We cannot afford moral hesitation

There is no disputing that the latest abortion statistics make for desperately grim reading.

Official figures from the Department of Health and Social Care reveal there were 278,740 abortions in England and Wales in 2023. This includes 3,205 disability-selective abortions and 300 late-term abortions for babies with disabilities at 24 weeks and over. 735 babies with Down’s syndrome were aborted.

If you combine these figures with data from Scotland, it means that in 2023, across England, Wales and Scotland, nearly 300,000 abortions were carried out - more than a quarter of a million lives lost.

It cannot be said enough times that each abortion is a tragedy. And yet our laws continue to become ever more extreme, harming both women and babies.

Only last summer, after a mere 46 minutes, MPs voted to remove the last remaining vestige of legal protection afforded the unborn child. Abortions at any stage of pregnancy up to birth, if self-induced by the expectant mother, will be free of any legal consequences. This is promoted as compassionate but will only put women at heightened risk and more late term babies in mortal danger.

My message to the church is simple: we cannot and must not walk on by.