The number of abortions among girls under 16 rose by 10 per cent last year while 163 under-14s had abortions.
"There's nothing but good in the latest abortion figures," concluded The Independent's Deborah Orr, who said the figures showed young women made more sensible choices. "They are given nowhere nearly enough credit for that," she wrote. The Times' Caitlin Moran agreed. "Instead of looking down on these teenage girls who opt for an abortion as feckless, we should, almost perversely be grateful for their decisions."
Others, like The Sun, shouted about a "teen pregnancy crisis", ignoring the fact teen pregnancy rates were at a 20-year low. The Daily Mirror called for "a dynamic new sex education drive because if we reduce unwanted pregnancies, we automatically cut abortions". But the Daily Mail was having none of it: "Isn't the real problem that we've got too much sex education in our schools rather than too little?" Um ... no.
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