The number of Irishwomen travelling for abortions in Britain this year has increased and may reach 7,000 by the end of the year, the Irish Family Planning Association has said.
Provisional figures released by the British Office for National Statistics yesterday show that, during the first quarter of 2001, 1,696 women who had abortions in England and Wales provided Irish addresses, according to the IFPA.
Mr Tony O'Brien, chief executive of the IFPA, said this appeared to show an increase on figures for previous years. In the first quarter of 1999, 1,520 Irish women had abortions in the Britain.
"If the trend persists for 2001, we may see the Irish abortion rate rise to around 7,000 by the end of this year.
"What these figures tell us is that, while this Government continues to bury its head in the sand, Irishwomen will continue to travel in significant numbers to the UK for abortions. No amount of debate by this Government on the merits, or otherwise, of holding another divisive referendum will change this situation."
Meanwhile, the IFPA, the Marie Stopes clinic and the Dublin Well Woman Clinic said yesterday they were not concerned about plans by the US-based radical anti-abortion campaigner, Mr Neal Horsley, to begin monitoring the activities of clinics providing non-directive pregnancy counselling.