More than 6,570 women accessed abortion services in 2020, marking a drop of 1 percent on the previous year.
The overwhelming majority of these terminations were carried out on women who were in the early stages of their pregnancy.
The Department of Health says 36 women from Northern Ireland traveled here to have an abortion last year.
Newly released abortion statistics show that 6,577 people accessed abortion in Ireland during 2020. Abortion is very much an essential part of healthcare. https://t.co/9lLTVe6FV0
— Abortion Rights IE (@freesafelegal) June 29, 2021
"This Shows How Important Services Are"
Helen Stonehouse, from the Abortion Rights Campaign, says the figures make it clear that abortion is an essential health service:
"This shows how important that abortion is."
"Even during a global pandemic, when we've all struggled to access healthcare."
"We've still seen roughly the same numbers as the previous year."
"So we know that people still need to access services, and that's still happening."
"We're glad that people are still able to access the healthcare that they needed."
"However, we're still conscious that people have had to travel, to the UK, and struggle to access services at times."
