From the UK Daily Mail. (H/T Dina)

Excerpt:

More than 100 unborn babies were aborted last year by women who were pregnant with twins, triplets or quintuplets but wanted to give birth to fewer children.

With a rise in multiple pregnancies widely attributed to IVF treatment, increasing numbers of women are choosing to terminate one or more foetuses while continuing with their pregnancy to deliver at least one of their babies.

Experts suggest that many of the women opt for abortions because of health concerns, as multiple pregnancies are considered more dangerous to mother and baby.

But some women admitted they were considering the procedure because they did not feel able to cope with more than one baby at a time.

The figures are likely to renew the controversial debate over whether IVF clinics should continue implanting several embryos in order to improve couples’ chances of having a baby.

The Department of Health statistics reveal 59 women aborted at least one foetus while continuing to give birth to another baby in 2006 – the number had risen to 85 by 2010.

During 2010, 101 foetuses were selectively terminated because some mothers aborted one or more unborn babies.

Of the 85 women undergoing selective reductions last year, 51 were reducing a pregnancy from twins to a single baby, up from 30 in 2006.

There were also 20 procedures to reduce triplets to twins and nine terminations to take a pregnancy from triplets to a single child.

Separate figures from the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) show that almost one third of selective abortions carried out in 2009 involved pregnancies that were a result of fertility treatment.

[…]Medical experts said there was a clear link between the rise in the number of selective abortions and the increasing use of IVF.

Under the NHS, up to three rounds of IVF can be obtained at taxpayer expense.