The Daily Telegraph found what it was looking for. "More schoolgirlsunder 14 having abortions", it announced. The Daily Mail joined in:"Shocking rise in abortions for under-14s".
Both papers focused on statistics showing that abortions carried out onunder-14s rose from 148 to 157. Nine young women amounted to ayear-on-year increase of six per cent, giving the papers theirleads.
The Daily Mirror took a different tack. It looked at the incidence ofabortion among girls under-15, which showed a fall. So the Mirrorheadlined that decrease and let its readers know that the number ofgirls under 15 terminating pregnancies had fallen to 1,034, down from1,171.
What about the analysis? Ground-breaking journalism at its mosteven-handed. All three papers quoted the views of the British PregnancyAdvisory Service (BPAS), a group that provides abortions. For balance,the tabloids also included insights from the Society for the Protectionof the Unborn Child (SPUC), which is less keen on abortion. BPAS thoughtit was time to stop seeing abortion as a problem. SPUC was appalled.
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