Almost two babies a week are aborted legally in Northern Ireland.

The number of operations for pregnant mothers risking their life or mental well-being increased over the last five years, figures released in the Assembly added.

The Society for the Protection of Unborn Children (SPUC) is seeking a High Court declaration that the government guidance does not properly set out the law.

Development officer Liam Gibson said: "Abortion is an act which is meant to destroy the life of a child.

"It is a fatal form of child abuse and clearly we are not helping women. No matter how difficult their circumstances are it isn't helpful to destroy the life of a child."

There were 92 abortions in 2007/08. The latest figures on legal abortions were released to SDLP MLA Pat Ramsey by Health Minister Michael McGimpsey following a written question. Mr McGimpsey said information was not available on the reasons for abortions. Audrey Simpson, director of the Family Planning Association (FPA) in Northern Ireland, said it was insulting to women to accuse them of child abuse.

"To call a woman who has had an abortion a child abuser is absolutely unacceptable," she said. "For probably all of them it was very much a wanted pregnancy... to link them to child abuse is disgusting, it is totally insensitive to women." She said it was wrong to draw conclusions from trends in the number of legal abortions. "Next year it could go down again, it just depends what happens in women's lives."

In March this year abortion guidelines were published in Northern Ireland. They explained the circumstances of when a termination may be carried out.

The information provided guidance on the giving of informed consent from the mother, the provision of counselling both before and after the termination and the responsibility of health and social care organisations to develop and distribute relevant leaflets.

More than 1,000 women from Northern Ireland travelled to England for an abortion last year, according to official figures. The total of 1,173 for 2008 was down on the figure of 1,343 for 2007. Mr Ramsey said: "The SDLP takes a strong human rights approach to the abortion question, the right to life being the fundamental human right."