By Joleen Murphy
There have been over 23,500 calls to the HSE's crisis pregnancy helpline since it was introduced when abortion was legalised.
According to freedom of information figures, 209 were from girls under 17.
On January 1st, 2019, abortions became legal in Ireland up to 12 weeks pregnancy and in other exceptional circumstances.
Since then the HSE has had a helpline for unplanned pregnancies, called My Options, which provides information on abortion services and pregnancy supports.
In 2019, 13,214 calls were made and there were 10,381 last year.
575 women made contact after they were 12 weeks' pregnant.
Across the two years, there were 209 calls from girls under 17, and 212 from women over 44.
Kiki Martire, from youth organisation SpunOut.ie, says she's not surprised by the level of demand.
"I think the level of calls really shows how desperate and dire the need was out there for a service as good as My Options is. and the need to continually invest back into that service as well as develop more because people are out there in need of these supports and the degree of young people."
The HSE says the drop in numbers last year wasn't due to any interruption in service during the pandemic, as services continued as normal.
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