The number of British women having abortions in their 40s has risen by over 30 percent since 2000, according to new government statistics.

In total, 8,179 women age 40 and over terminated pregnancies last year—including more than 650 women above the age of 45, and 21 women age 50 and over.

The statistics included those who opted for termination when screening showed a high chance of abnormalities such as Down’s syndrome. Most abortions among older women, however, took place before 12 weeks—that is, before the first antenatal screening takes place.

The dramatic rise is reflective of increased sexual activity among older women and greater numbers of older single women and divorcees who are more inclined to promiscuity and short-term relationships than women of previous generations at that age.

The huge rise is being attributed to what has been labeled the “Sex and the City generation.”

According to a report in the Daily Mail, since Sex and the City hit British tv screens, more and more women are emulating the values and lifestyle of their New Yorker icons. Two of the four lead characters have had abortions and one of them has had two. Additional “values” promoted by this hugely popular show are a deep hostility toward marriage and the exultation of fornication.

Regarding the jump in abortions among Britain’s over-40s, Laura Donnelly, the Telegraph’s health correspondent, writes (emphasis mine):

The figures reflect large-scale social changes in recent years.The percentage of single women in Britain has more than doubled in the past three decades, with 43 percent of women under 50 never having married in 2009.Meanwhile, divorce rates have soared; in 1980, around one in three marriages ended in divorce, but on current trends, almost half of today’s marriages will not last, with break-ups most likely to occur when couples are in their early 40s. …And in 2008, an international study suggested British men and women were the most promiscuous Western industrial nation.

To understand why God created sex and God’s transcendent purpose for sex within marriage, read Herbert W. Armstrong’s book The Missing Dimension in Sex.