The number of abortions taking place in Scotland reached an all time high last year, new figures from Public Health Scotland show. 

The latest data reveals that there were 16,584 abortion in 2022, a 19% increase on the previous year. 

Abortions are at their highest level since Public Health Scotland first published abortion data in 2013. 

The abortion rate last year was 16.1 per 1,000 women but this rose to 27.4 per 1,000 in the 20 to 24 age bracket. 

Women in the poorest areas were twice as likely to have an abortion (4,744) as women in more affluent areas (2,219). 

The number of aborted babies with Down's syndrome has also risen, from 32 in 2021, to 59 in 2022.

Lynn Murray, spokesperson for Don't Screen Us Out and the mother of a child with Down's syndrome, said the increase was "deeply upsetting". 

"Already so many babies with Down's syndrome are screened out by termination each year in Scotland and now the situation appears to be getting worse," she said.

She attributed the rise in Down's syndrome abortions to the roll-out of the new Non-Invasive Pre-Natal tests across NHS in Scotland.

She called on the government to undertake an urgent inquiry into the impact of the test on Down's syndrome abortion rates. 

"We are calling on the Scottish Government to urgently update Scottish abortion legislation to ensure that babies with Down's syndrome cannot be aborted right up to birth, as is permitted under current legislation," she added.