§ Mr. Reidasked the Secretary of State for Scotland (1) what is the total number of abortions notified in respect of women resident in Scotland for each of the last 10 years;
(2) how many abortions have been carried out in Scotland on women not usually resident within the United Kingdom in each of the last 10 years.
§ Mr. William RossThe table below gives the number of abortions notified as having been carried out in Scotland since the Abortion Act 1967 came into effect during 1968 on (a) women resident in Scotland and (b) women not usually resident within the United Kingdom:
Year (a) (b) 1968 (part) 1,532 1 1969 3,520 10 1970 5,241 3 1971 6,311 4 1972 7,582 4 1973 7,482 2 1974* 5,245 1 * Provisional figures for first nine months.
§ Mr. Reidasked the Secretary of State for Scotland what is the total number of abortion deaths in Scotland for each of the last 10 years.
§ Mr. William RossThe numbers of deaths classified to abortion in Scotland in each of the last 10 years are given in the table below. From information in death certificates and notifications under the Abortion Act 1967 it is known that legal abortion was associated with a few deaths which were classified to other causes; the492W numbers of these are also given in the table.
DEATHS FROM ABORTION, SCOTLAND, 1965–74 Year Deaths classified to abortion Deaths associated with legal abortion 1965 7 1 1966 4 — 1967 — — 1968 1 — 1969 3 1 1970 — — 1971 2 3 1972 3 2 1973 2 1 1974* 2 1 * Provisional figures.
§ Mr. Reidasked the Secretary of State for Scotland what is the number of discharges from hospital in Scotland after septic abortion in each of the last 10 years.
§ Mr. William RossThe information is not readily available in the form requested, but the number of discharges from gynaecology units following treatment for sepsis in the uterus which might have been associated with non-legally—induced abortions for the years 1968–73 is given in the table below:
Year Number of discharges 1968 48 1969 37 1970 7 1971 10 1972 10 1973 4 Sepsis can also occur as a complication in legally-induced abortions and the number of cases notified is given in the table below:
Year Number of cases with sepsis Percentage of all notified a abortions 1968 55 2.0 1969 104 2.9 1970 88 1.7 1971 120 1.9 1972 133 1.7 1973 69 0.9