§ Mr. Peter Bruinvelsasked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many abortions were undertaken within the National Health Service in each of the last five years; and if he will break down the figures by region, giving separate figures for Leicestershire.
§ Mr. Kenneth ClarkeThe information requested is contained in the following table.
Number of legal abortions undertaken in the National Health Service by area of usual residence, 1978 to 1982 Area of usual residence Year 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 England and Wales 55,040 55,558 60,594 61,103 62,409 Regional Health Authorities Northern 4,709 4,802 4,956 4,913 4,922 Yorkshire 2,556 2,874 2,970 2,961 2,825 Trent 4,752 5,199 5,376 5,391 5,573 East Anglian 2,436 2,717 2,911 2,992 2,998 North West Thames 5,543 5,421 5,958 5,967 5,966 North East Thames 6,145 6,053 7,316 7,204 7,541 South East Thames 4,993 5,086 5,256 5,517 5,504 South West Thames 3,132 2,766 3,106 3,364 3,346 Wessex 2,663 2,559 2,808 2,918 2,584 Oxford 2,544 2,537 2,903 2,913 2,2789 South Western 4,250 4,425 4,848 4,676 4,903 West Midlands 2,637 2,625 3,104 3,011 2,972 Mersey 1,546 1,325 1,557 1,683 3,082 North Western 3,648 3,396 3,897 3,836 3,709 Wales 3,486 3,773 3,628 3,757 3,695 Leicestershire 342 486 460 505 564