Legal abortions under ground E England and Wales 2022

Ground E abortions are those performed because of fetal abnormality at any gestation. There was a total of 4,729 ground E abortions in 2022. In 2022, congenital malformations were reported as the principal medical condition in 70 percent of the 5,096 cases undertaken under ground E, with 35 percent of the legal abortions under ground E were performed under the principal medical condition of congenital malformation of the nervous system. Other conditions accounted for 35 percent of ground E abortions, this included cases where the fetus was affected by maternal factors, hydrops fetalis, Cystic Hygroma, multiple gestation, a family history of heritable disorders, and fetal disorders related to gestation and growth. This statistic displays the distribution of Ground E legal abortions in England and Wales in 2022, by principal medical condition.

Distribution of legal abortions because of risk of serious handicap of the unborn child (Ground E) in England and Wales in 2022, by principal medical condition

Characteristic	Share of abortions
Congenital malformations of the nervous system	35%
Other congenital malformations	35%
Chromosomal abnormalities	13%
Other conditions total	17%

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Release date

May 2024

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Region

United Kingdom (England, Wales)

Survey time period

2022

Number of respondents

4,495 respondents

Supplementary notes

Ground E suggests substantial risk that if the child were born it would suffer from such physical or mental abnormalities as to be seriously handicapped.
This statistic using original data from the Department of Health and includes copyright material licensed under © Crown, the Open Government License v3.0

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