S1X schoolgirls a day are , having abortions in Britain, according to the Registrar-General's return for the last quarter of 1969. The total annual rate is 60,000.
During the quarter there were 15,282 notifications of abortion operations, of which 62 per cent were carried out in National Health Service hospitals and 38 per cent in approved places.
Single women accounted for 47 per cent of the cases, and S per cent of these (386) were under 16—giving an average of six each working day. The most commonly quoted reason (74 per cent) was "risk of injury to the physical and mental health of the mother."