Abortion rates fall

Fewer women are having abortions in Oxfordshire.

There were just under 1,300 terminations in the county in 2009 - more than 150 fewer than the previous 12 months, and a drop of 10 per cent.  In 2008 there were just under 1,450.

Sexual Health Charity Marie Stopes International say it's because sex education's getting better, but the UK still has some of the highest abortion rates in Europe.

Anne Quesney from the charity says work still needs to be done in schools to educate children about preventing unplanned pregnancies, but she says the quality of information is variable across the region.

"However much [sex education] is very good in some schools, other schools are very poor and I think we really need to ensure young people have access to all the information that they need to make safe choices," she said.

Compared to the national figures, Oxfordshire has a relatively low abortion rate.  Among the under 18s the figures have dropped.

There were 10 abortions in every thousand births in 2009, compared to a rate of 12 in every thousand in 2008.