A total of 8,156 medical procedures were carried out in 2022, under the Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Act, according to the annual report for the year.
There were 22 procedures carried out due to a risk to life or health under the grounds set out in section 9 of the Act, four due to a risk to life or health in an emergency situation under section 10 of the Act, 88 due to a fatal foetal anomaly under section 11 and 8,042 in early pregnancy under the grounds set out in section 12 of the Act.
Section 20 of the 2018 Act requires the date on which the termination of pregnancy was carried out to be notified to the Minister of Health. The data for 2022 indicate that the months with the highest number of terminations carried out were January (783 notifications), March (751) and December (752). The month with fewest notifications was July (487).
The counties with the highest number of terminations recorded was Dublin (3,005), Cork (734) and Limerick (377). The county cited in fewest notifications was Leitrim, with 48 pregnant women noting it as their county of residence. The data showed that Northern Ireland was the place of residence notified in 12 cases, while five notifications recorded their place of residence as another location outside of Ireland.
A report by the HSE showed that four applications for review were received by the Executive in 2002. Two applications were subsequently withdrawn, leaving two reviews to be carried out. One of the applications was found to have met the requirements for a lawful termination of pregnancy and one did not meet the requirements.
