HL Deb 22 July 1975 vol 363 cc315-6WA
Lord SOMERS

asked Her Majesty's Government:

  1. 1. How many foetuses of 22 weeks or more were destroyed during 1973;
  2. 2. during 1973 what methods were used in hospitals within the National Health Service to destroy foetuses 13 weeks or more after conception, and in how many cases each of the methods was used;
  3. 3. during 1973 what methods were used in these hospitals to destroy the foetuses of 16 weeks or over, and in how many cases each of the methods was used;
  4. 4. how many babies were born during 1973 which were legally alive (i.e. with heart beating) and how many of these babies were put into incubators and how many into incinerators; and
  5. 5. during 1974 how many women of 20 weeks' pregnancy or over were aborted.

LORD WELLS-PESTELL

The number of therapeutic abortions performed in Great Britain on residents and non-residents at 20 weeks or more gestation in 1973 was as follows:

20 weeks and over 1,769
22 weeks and over 648

I regret the information requested in relation to 1974 is not yet available.

The number of therapeutic abortions performed in NHS hospitals in England and Wales and in all places in Scotland at 13 weeks or more and 16 weeks or more gestation in 1973 was as follows:

13 weeks and over 13,699
16 weeks and over 3,947

Information is not collected on the disposal of foetuses, foetal material or the products of any other operation. The means of disposal of foetal material in NHS hospitals are the responsibility of individual Area Health Authorities, but it is understood that incineration is most frequently used.

A baby is under Common Law regarded as being born alive if it has an independent circulation and is breathing or capable of breathing from its own lungs. The number of live births in 1973 in Great Britain was 750,499. It is not known how many of these babies were put into incubators. If a baby is born alive, the law requires that every effort must be made to preserve its life and failure to do so could amount to the criminal offence of manslaughter or murder.

House adjourned at eighteen minutes before eleven o'clock.