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Church lashes out at record Scots abortion rate

More than 3,500 of the women who had an abortion in Scotland last year had had a previous termination of pregnancy and 372 were girls aged under 16, figures released by the Scottish government have revealed.

They were among a total of 13,703 terminations carried out in 2007, 540 more than the previous year and a record - a figure described by the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland as “deeply disheartening” and proof that society had failed Scotland's unborn children and women. One MSP claimed last night that it was evidence that abortion was now being used as a form of contraception.

The increase in abortions in Scotland last year was, according to official statisticians, consistent with the pattern seen in recent years.

The figures also revealed that the abortion rate in Scotland was highest in deprived areas, where the rate was 17.4 per 1,000 women, almost double the rate of 9.6 per 1,000 for the least deprived areas of the country.

Full story at The Times.