§ Mr. Meacherasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will investigate why women who have abortions in National Heath Service hospitals are 17 times more likely to die from accidents during the operation than women who go to private clinics for this operation.
§ Mr. Kenneth ClarkeI assume the hon. Member's question refers to recent correspondence inThe Lancet. The correspondent who first raised the point subsequently amended the ratio of deaths following abortions carried out within the National Health Service and the private sector to 9:1 during the period 1968–82. In our opinion, the numbers involved are too small to calculate meaningful death rates or draw any conclusions about relative risk.