The number of abortions in England and Wales showed a significant rise last year, with teenagers representing the highest rate of terminations, government figures show.
A total of 193,700 women had terminations in 2006, a 3.9 per cent rise on the previous year, the Department of Heath said.
The rise was much larger than that of 2005, which was just 0.4 per cent.
The pro-life group Alive and Kicking said the 2006 figures were "utterly horrifying".
The abortion rate was highest for girls aged 19, at 35 per 1,000. The under-16 rate was 3.9 and the under-18 rate was 18.2, both higher than in 2005.
The rate for women aged between 15 and 44 was 18.3, compared with 17.8 the year before.
The rising figures are likely to reignite the abortion debate as the Abortion Act marks its 40th year.
Last month, Scotland's most senior Roman Catholic, Cardinal Keith O'Brien, launched a fierce attack on pro-abortion Catholic politicians, saying they should consider their stance on receiving Communion.
MPs at Westminster later voted down a proposal by Conservative Ann Winterton that women seeking an abortion be required to have counselling first.
Another proposal, to reduce the abortion time limit to 21 weeks from 24, was also defeated. In 2006, 89 per cent of abortions were carried out at under 13 weeks gestation, with 69 per cent at under 10 weeks.
Julia Millington, Alive and Kicking's political coordinator, said: "This is further evidence that we have abortion on demand in the UK."
The debate is likely to return to parliament during the passage of the government's Human Tissue and Embryos Bill, which is expected to attract anti-abortion amendments from pro-life backbenchers.
Meanwhile, doctors will discuss recommendations later this month to radically ease restrictions on abortions at the British Medical Association's annual conference in Torquay.
The charity British Pregnancy Advisory Service, which provides contraception and abortion, described the abortion rate rise as small but significant.
It put the growing trend down to couples increasingly choosing when to have families and a change in social attitude.
Ann Furedi, chief executive of the service, said: "A rise in the number of abortions is not the problem in itself - the real problem is the number of women experiencing unintended pregnancy.
"For some of these, abortion will be the solution to the very serious problem of being faced with an unplanned, unwanted pregnancy."