THE decision whether or not to have an abortion is always a difficult one. Can you support a baby? Can you kill something that is growing inside you? The concerns are many.

When a person decides to have a termination it could be for a number of reasons. It could be medical. The health of the baby and its carrier may be at great risk.

The parents, however, may be unable to support a child emotionally or financially, or they could be involved in a failing relationship - inhabiting a world too unstable for a newborn baby.

Figures released by the British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS) suggest otherwise.

Britain's leading abortion provider has revealed that one in three abortions is now carried out on women who have had at least one before.

And only one in 100 abortions is carried out solely because of a medical risk to the baby.

In 2003 alone, 181,582 terminations were carried out in England and Wales, 1,023 of which were performed on 14-year-olds and 148 for those under 14.

Two years on and this has all changed - termination figures for 20 to 24-year-olds have now taken over the teenage figures.

Earlier this year, BPAS revealed that one woman from London had six abortions in just 12 months, an example of a person fitting terminations around her lifestyle.

EastEnders' characters Stacey Slater and Bradley Branning are currently faced with making the decision whether or not to have their baby and give up their carefree teenage lifestyles.

Author of Child Rearing For Fun, Anne Atkins said such people make bad statistics and give abortion patients a bad name.

"Abortion should be justified only in the most extreme circumstances and women need to be aware of the dangers.

"It is not a form of contraception. It can be harmful to a woman physically and emotionally," she said.

But those women who choose to have an abortion for the right reasons - the safety of the baby and its carrier, if the pregnancy was a result of a rape, or if the baby cannot be supported in the right way - need to be supported.

The Pregnancy Advisory Service (PAS) in Newport Street Bolton, is one local clinic that treats and supports women who choose to have an abortion.

The clinic said: "We do not judge anybod; people who choose to come here have their own reasons."

Which, of course, is true. Though many pro-lifers may disagree with their words and the work the PAS does, remember that the patient is already in two minds about the termination.

The research is true but only shows the amount of abortions performed, not the reasons why.

Safe procedures:

Drugs: A hormone pill called mifepristone causes the lining of the uterus to start breaking down. Two days later prostaglandin is prescribed which increases contractions and bleeding, as in an early natural miscarriage.

Simple operations: A vacuum aspiration, a thin tube attached to a small pump is entered into the uterus to draw out the contents of the uterus into the tube.

Induced labour.

Unsafe Procedures:

Herbs or certain drugs.

Pushing substances into the uterus e.g. soap or bleach.

Pushing objects into the uterus e.g. a stick, rubber tubing, wire or coat hangers.

For more information about the Pregnancy Advisory Clinic, contact 01204 365591.