§ Mrs. Roeasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will make a statement on the substance of the replies received to his letter of 11 December to proprietors of approved nursing homes and registered pregnancy advice bureaux concerning abortions; what specific reply was received from the Raleigh nursing home, Brixton hill and the Robert nursing home, Birmingham; and what action he proposes to take in the light of these responses.
§ Mr. Hayhoe[pursuant to his reply, 15 May 1986, c. 531]: Replies to this letter—which was sent by an official on 17 December—noted the statement in it of the circumstances in which an abortion can lawfully be carried out under the provisions of the Abortion Act 1967 and gave assurances that the contents of the letter would be brought to the attention of the staff concerned. In its response, the Raleigh nursing home assured the Department that it had always been their policy not to terminate a pregnancy solely on the grounds of unwanted fetal sex and stated that it had circulated copies of the letter to all its counselling staff, doctors and surgeons and had pointed out that such action is unlawful. The Robert nursing home stated that it was arranging for the letter to be brought to the attention of all doctors in the consulting rooms who counsel patients under the terms of the Abortion Act. These responses (lid not require further action, but I regard the allegations in the Sunday Times of 11 May as very serious and I have instructed officials to investigate them urgently so that any necessary action can be taken.