There were 18,783 abortions in Scotland in 2025, the highest on record, according to statistics released earlier today.
Released earlier today by Public Health Scotland, the figures reveal a stark increase in the number of abortions over the last ten years. 2025 saw an increase in the total number of abortions of 6,648 or 54.78% compared to 12,135 in 2016.
The abortion rate per 1,000 women aged 15 to 44 increased from 11.9 in 2016 to 17.6 in 2025.
There was also a rise in repeat abortions from 7,672 in 2024 to 7,927 in 2025. In 2025, 42.2% of abortions were repeat abortions.
Lanarkshire has had the greatest increase in abortions of any region in Scotland in the last ten years, from 1,426 in 2016 up to 2,650 in 2025, representing an 85.83% increase in abortions.
The figures also show there were 277 disability-selective abortions in 2025. This is a 61.05% increase compared to 2018, when there were 172.
The number of abortions at between 18 and 20 weeks gestation was 138 in 2025, a 50% increase from 2018, when there were 92 abortions at between 18 and 20 weeks gestation.
But bad as things are at preent, they could well get even worse. A review of abortion law in Scotland, commissioned by Humza Yousaf when he was Scottish First Minister, has recommended that Scotland scrap the 24-week abortion time limit and allow abortions on social grounds, including for sex-selective purposes, right up to birth.
Unborn babies could legally have their lives ended by an abortion throughout all nine months of pregnancy – right up to when they are about to be born.
This would leave Scotland with one of the most extreme abortion laws in the world.