§ Mr. Knoxasked the Secretary of State for Social Services whether he has received the views of the medical profession about the case for amending the Infant Life Preservation Act 1929; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Kenneth ClarkeThe chief medical officer has recently received a document on fetal viability and clinical practice which has been prepared by a working party set up by the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists and including representatives of other medical bodies and the Royal College of Midwives. We understand that the report represents the unanimous views of the professional bodies. I am grateful to them for letting us have their considered opinion that the reference to 28 weeks gestational age in the 1929 Act is now out of date in view of advances in medical techniques.
We will be financing the publication of the report and we will arrange for its distribution to nursing homes approved under the Abortion Act and within the National Health Service as soon as possible. I am now considering the report urgently with my right hon. and learned Friend the Home Secretary. I have also asked our officers to convene a meeting with the proprietors of approved nursing homes which at the moment undertake late abortions to discuss the report. I will make a further statement as soon as possible.
Country Project Year of commitment Allocation Pakistan Railway development 1978 29,100,000 Bangladesh Railways rehabilitation: wagons 1978 15,000,000 Bangladesh Railway wagons and workshop equipment 1978 16,836,481 Malawi Wagon weighbridges/goods hand 1978 32,955 Sri Lanka Materials for railway 1978 6,065,000 Malawi Malawi railways 1979 1,506,851 Kenya Hopper wagons 1979 1,279,079 Tanzania Tanzania railway development 1979 9,500,000 Sri Lanka Locomotives 1980 2,867,172 Zimbabwe Railway electrification Nos. 1–7 1981 8,239,515 Kenya Railway coaches 1982 5,030,040 Kenya Railways development 1983 3,000,000 India Railway projects grant 1983 30,000,000 Malawi Replacement of railway tracks 1983 1,630,000 Sudan Gezira railways 1984 4,230,000 Swaziland Swaziland railways 1984 575,000 The Overseas Development Administration does not maintain statistics relating to the volume, price and source of individual contracts let under aid financed projects.