Almost 4,500 women had abortions in Malaga province last year, more than 500 of them adolescents

Malaga province recorded a total of 4,449 voluntary terminations of pregnancy in 2024, according to the latest official data from the Ministry of Health. Of that total number, some 516 abortions involved girls under the age of 19, which highlights the growing number of unwanted pregnancies among teenagers year after year, despite the decline that took place immediately after the morning-after pill first became available in Spain. Particularly striking are the 11 abortions involving girls under the age of 15, although this is the only age group in which a slight decrease has been observed.

The increase in abortions has been noticed both in Malaga province and in Spain. The highest number of abortions was recorded in 2011 - 118,611 across the country and 5,187 in Malaga province, of which 688 involved adolescents, including 19 girls under 15 years of age.

Since then, the introduction and increased accessibility of the morning-after pill have contributed to a progressive decrease in the number of abortions. In 2016, the national figure dropped to 93,131, while in Malaga it fell to 3,810 cases, including 397 adolescents, among them 14 under 15 years of age. However, since then, there has been an upwards trend.

The morning-after pill can be bought in pharmacies without a prescription. As it is not subject to medical prescription, there is no official record of how many are sold. Malaga experts state that its use has become popular and estimate that, in the last year, consumption may have increased by around 10% in the province.

Legally, there is no provision for conscientious objection to refuse to dispense this emergency contraception. However, there are still some pharmacies that are reluctant to start selling it.

In terms of the contraceptives most used by women who have undergone an abortion in Malaga province, condoms (1,438), hormonal methods (818) and 'natural methods' (660) were the most used. Most women (1,473), however, said they had not used any contraception.

Practically 100% of abortions in Malaga province are performed in private clinics, but almost all of them are referred from the public healthcare system, which is where most women go for information. In the province, there are three centres that perform abortions: Clínica El Sur, Ginecenter and Ginesur.

The number of abortions in Spain was growing at around 1% per year from 1988, when the ministry began to provide information, until 2011 or 2012, when it reached 118,611 - the highest figure since statistics have been available. From then on, the morning-after pill, which was made available in Spain in 2009 (the 72-hour pill), and the 2015 pill, which covers five days but is more effective if taken within the first 24 hours after sexual intercourse, started contributing to abortion declines. Since 2010, any woman (girls under 16 need parental consent) has been able to freely have an abortion in Spain within the first 14 weeks of gestation. Only some centres perform abortion after the 14th week.

Under the new law, 2011 and 2012 saw decreases of around 5,000 abortions per year. The lowest number in the last decade was recorded in 2016 (93,131). Since then, excluding the pandemic years 2020 and 2021, with 88,269 and 90,189 abortions respectively, the number of abortions performed in Spain has been increasing year by year until reaching 106,173 in 2024.