Mr. John Mark Taylorasked the Secretary of State for Social Services how far the targets cited by the Family Planning Association in 1976 have been achieved in relation to the reduction by half of that year's figures for unwanted pregnancies and abortions.
§ Mr. NewtonThe number of legal abortions to residents of England and Wales rose from 101,912 in 1976 to 147,030 in 1985, an increase of 44 per cent. Over the same period the number of legal abortions per thousand of the resident female population aged 15 to 44 rose from 10.53 to 13.66, an increase of almost 30 per cent.
Not all abortions necessarily follow an unwanted pregnancy.
The number of unwanted pregnancies is not known.
Mr. John Mark Taylorasked the Secretary of State for Social Services to what factors his Department attributes 719W the fall in the number of abortions among those under 16 years in the first half of 1985; and the subsequent rise in those numbers.
Legal abortions to females aged under 16 Number and rates per thousand population. Residents 1984 1985 1986 Quarter Number Rate per thousand1 Number Rate per thousand1 Number Rate per thousand1 March 1,067 1.43 985 1.33 1,028 1.39 June 973 1.30 925 1.25 980 1.33 September 1,017 1.36 960 1.30 900 1.22 December 1,048 1.41 1,030 1.39 — — Total2 4,158 5.58 4,002 5.41 — — 1 The rates (per thousand population) for the under 16 age group are based on the population of females aged 14 and 15. The denominator for 1984 is the mid-1984 estimated resident population figure. That for 1985 and 1986 is the mid-1985 estimated resident population. 2 Includes late notifications, 53 in 1984 and 102 in 1985, not assigned to any quarter. The slight fall in the rate of abortions in 1985 compared with 1984 and the slight rise in the first two quarters of 1986 compared with the same period in 1985 are insufficient to indicate a trend.