§ Mr. Amessasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will give a breakdown by regional health authority of the total number of abortions performed in England and Wales under the Abortion Act 1967; and, in each region, how many of these abortions were performed in emergency to save the life of the mother.
§ Mr. NewtonThe information requested can be provided only at disproportionate cost. However, figures which are more readily available are shown in the table. 413W
Number of notifications of legal abortions by area of termination— Total all abortions to resident women, number with grounds 51
1979–85
Area of termination Number of abortions to resident women No. with grounds 51 Nothern RHA 35,245 2 Yorkshire RHA 55,296 1 Trent RHA 55,005 5 East Anglian RHA 23,607 1 North West Thames RHA 63,673 4 North East Thames RHA 120,987 3 South East Thames RHA 121,791 2 South West Thames RHA 80,660 1 Wessex RHA 30,072 2 Oxford RHA 21,698 3 South Western RHA 35,972 1 West Midlands RHA 138,071 2 Mersey RHA 51,881 3 North Western RHA 50,590 2 Wales 25,580 2 1 In emergency to save the life of the pregnant woman. Figures exclude, for 1979 and 1980, abortions performed in post graduate teaching hospitals which were not assigned to a Regional Health Authority (RHA)
§ Mr. Amessasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what is the total number of abortions that have so far been performed in the United Kingdom under the Abortion Act 1967; how many of these abortions were performed in emergency to save the life of the mother; and what percentage this latter figure represents of the former.
§ Mr. NewtonThe total number of notifications of legal abortions, to resident and non-resident women, carried out under the Abortion Act 1967, from 27 April 1968 to 31 December 1985 in England and Wales, and Scotland is 2,589,110. Of these, 136 were notified as having been performed in emergency to save the life of the pregnant woman, which represents 0.005 per cent. of all abortions.
A further 86,468 notifications were made in respect of England and Wales alone from 1 January to 30 June 1986, of which one was notified as having been performed in emergency to save the life of the pregnant woman.
The Abortion Act does not apply to Northern Ireland.