§ Mr. Nicholas Wintertonasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what is the total number of abortions which have so far been performed under the Abortion Act 1967; if he will indicate the total number of abortions performed under this Act in emergency to save the life of the mother; and if he will express the latter figure as a percentage of the former.
§ Mr. NewtonThe total number of notifications of abortions to resident and non-resident women, carried out under the Abortion Act 1967, from 27 April 1968 to 31 December 1986 in England and Wales is 2,632,414. Of these, 123 were performed in emergency in order to save the life of the pregnant woman, which represents 0.005 per cent. of all abortions.
Provisional figures for abortions in the March quarter 1987 are due to be published in September 1987.