ABORTION AND DIVORCE GROWTH

Edition 526

Spain, a country famous for its close-knit families, is the EU country which currently has the highest growth rate for abortions and divorces. While it is sixth on the list for the number of abortions, behind France, the UK, Romania, Italy and Germany, the abortion growth rate has climbed to 75% in the past ten years, trailed by Belgium with 50%. It also has one of the lowest birth rates - 1.34 per family against the European average of 1.38. The EU ideal is 2.3 children per family. The number of couples getting married has also dropped. In 2005, there were 2.4 m illion married couples, a drop of 22.3% since 1980. Eduardo Hertfelter, the director of Spain's Family Policy Group which presented the report Evolution of the Family in Europe last week in Brussels, accused the Socialist government of approving laws like the so-called quickie divorce law which make it easier for families to break up.