HC Deb 30 October 1984 vol 65 c951W
Mr. Cohen

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what estimate he has made of the relative risk to women of dying from an accident during an abortion operation(a) in National Health Service hospitals and (b) in private hospitals and clinics; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Kenneth Clarke

In recent years there have been fewer deaths following abortion than in the period immediately following the passage of the Abortion Act. Between 1978 and 1982 there were 13 deaths from abortions carried out within the National Health Service, and two in private nursing homes approved under the Act. These numbers are too small to calculate meaningful death rates or draw any conclusions about relative risk. All maternal deaths, including those following abortion, are considered very carefully in the confidential inquiry on maternal deaths, whose reports are published every three years.