The number of Irish women traveling to the U.K. with the purpose of having an abortion has dropped in the past five years. According to figures recently released by the British Department of Health (DoH), just over 5,000 women headed to Britain to terminate their pregnancy, a fall of 1,600 cases from 2001.

While supporters of rightful abortion dispute the illegality of abortion in Ireland, the anti-abortion groups have welcomed the decline.

"It indicates the tide is moving in the right direction and that a growing trend towards abortion is not inevitable," Pro-Life's Dr. Ruth Cullen told the Irish Times.

According to the DoH, there were 7,400 abortions for non-residents carried out in hospitals and clinics in England and Wales, the majority coming from Ireland.

Abortion is illegal in Ireland except where the mother's life is threatened by a medical condition or suicide. Thousands of Irish women seeking an abortion get around the ban by privately traveling to Britain, where abortion was legalized in 1967.