[Contribution of immigration to increase of legal induced abortion]

We aimed to estimate what proportion of the increase in the frequency of legally induced abortions in Spain can be attributed to abortions performed in immigrant women.

All women of reproductive age residing in Asturias, Catalonia, Valencia and Madrid were included. The rates of legally induced abortion in Spanish and immigrant women were calculated in 2005. It was estimated the rate in all women in 1991 assuming that that rate refers to Spanish women only.

The rate of legal abortions in immigrant women tripled those of Spanish women. A 76% increase in the rate was due to abortions carried out in immigrant women. Moreover, in women older than 30 years, the immigrant group represented 100% of the increment. Women aged 15 to 19 represented the exception, since the increase in these rates were primarily due to abortions performed in Spanish women.

The increase in the number of immigrants in Spain since the second half of the 90s explains the increase in the rate of abortions between 1991 and 2005 in women aged 30 years and older.