§ Mr. Frank FieldTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will detail the number of women since 1968 who have had more than one abortion.
§ Mr. NewtonI regret that the full information requested can be provided only at disproportionate cost. However, the table shows the number of women who have had a second legal abortion between 1983 and 1986.
Number of notifications of abortions carried out under the Abortion Act 1967 where one previous abortion under the Act is indicated, residents and non-residents. England and Wales 1983–1986 Year Number 1983 21,769 1984 24,330 1985 24,513 1986 26,880 1983–1986 97,492
§ Mr. Frank FieldTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Services if, pursuant to his reply to the hon. Member for Birkenhead,Official Report, 6 November, columns 863–4, he will begin to collect social class information on each woman successfully undergoing an abortion operation in the United Kingdom.
§ Mr. NewtonWe have no plans to do so.
§ Mr. Michael McNair-WilsonTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Services what is the average cost of an abortion on the National Health Service; and what percentage of hospital discharges relate to women who have had the operation.
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§ Mr. NewtonThe estimated revenue cost of an abortion in National Health Service hospitals is £170.
In 1986 the number of women resident in England and Wales who had an abortion in a National Health Service hospital in England represented about 1 per cent, of the total discharges and deaths from NHS hospitals in England in that year.