§ 205. Mr. AltonTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has to ensure that doctors aborting babies of 24 weeks' gestation and more attempt to preserve the baby's life.
§ Mrs. Virginia BottomleyThe decision as to the most suitable method of treatment in any particular case is a matter for the clinical judgment of the doctor concerned in the light of all the relevant clinical issues and circumstances of the case.
§ Mr. AltonTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what information he has on the complication rate associated with mothers undergoing an abortion in the NHS as compared with those undergoing abortion in a private clinic.
§ Mrs. Virginia BottomleyThe available information is in the following table:—
Complications of legal abortions to residents and non residents 1989 (England and Wales) All Gestations NHS Rates per 1,000 abortions Non-NHS Rates per 1,000 abortions Reported Complication Total 544 7.68 91 0.80 Sepsis 35 0.49 2 0.02 Haemorrhage 211 2.98 27 0.24 Perforation 120 1.69 43 0.38 Other 178 2.51 19 0.17 This information is derived from the notification forms submitted to the chief medical officer. The Department has sponsored a long-term prospective study by the Royal College of General Practitioners and the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists into this matter. Some results were published in 1985 in the Journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners, vol. 35, pages 175–180, appendix III, a copy of which has been placed in the Library.
§ Mr. AltonTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what studies his Department has conducted of the reasons for the rise in the abortion rate from 1969 to 1989.
§ Mrs. Virginia BottomleyNo studies on this specific issue have been funded by the Department.