§ Mrs. Renée Shortasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what was the NHS abortion rate per 100 live births as notified for residents of England and Wales for each regional health authority area during 1976.
§ Mr. MoyleThe provisional rates were as follows:
Abortions per 100 live births England and Wales … … 8.5 Regional Health Authorities Northern … … 11.9 Yorkshire … … 6.0 Trent … … 7.1 East Anglia … … 10.2 NW Thames … … 12.0 NE Thames … … 11.9 SE Thames … … 11.6 SW Thames … … 7.7 Wessex … … 7.1 Oxford … … 8.2 South Western … … 11.5 West Midlands … … 3.7 Mersey … … 4.2 North Western … … 7.5 Wales … … 9.1
§ Mrs. Renée Shortasked the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) what were the quarterly figures for total abortion deaths for each of the last five years;
175W(2) what were the quarterly figures for illegal abortion deaths for each of the last five years.
All Induced for medical indications Induced for other legal indications Induced for other reasons Spontaneous Not specified as induced or spontaneous Other ICD 640–5 640 641 642 643 644 645 1971— March … 8 3 — 2 1 2 June … 8 3 — 2 2 1 September … 5 1 1 1 … 1 1 December … 6 4 — 1 1 — — 1972— March … 4 2 — 1 1 — — June … 12 4 — 4 — 4 — September … 6 1 — 2 1 2 — December … 4 3 — — — 1 — 1973— March … 3 1 — 1 1 — — June … 3 1 1 1 — — — September … 3 — — 1 — 2 — December … 3 1 — 1 1 — — 1974— March … 5 3 — — — — 2 June … 2 1 — 1 — — — September … 1 — — 1 — — — December … 3 2 — — — 1 — 1975— March … 3 3 — — — — — June … 3 2 — — — 1 — September … 2 1 — 1 — — — December … — — — — — — — 1976— March* … 3 1 — — 2 — — *Provisional.
§ Mrs. Renée Shortasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what evidence exists to show either a rise or fall in illegal abortions since the introduction of the Abortion Act 1967.
§ Mr. MoyleThere are no reliable statistics on illegal abortions. In 1974, however, the Lane Committee on the Working of the Abortion Act in its report (Cmnd. 5579) concluded that the Abortion Act had made a real contribution to the reduction in illegal abortions. In arriving at this view, the committee took account of information available from several sources, including the report on confidential inquiries into maternal deaths, the numbers of women discharged from hospital following septic abortion, the Registrar General's data on abortion deaths and the number of prosecutions for illegal abortions under Sections 58 and 59 of the Offences Against the Person Act 1861.
176W