§ Mr. AltonTo ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will give the number of mentions of rape or incest in certificates for abortions performed on pregnancies of 18 weeks' or more gestation, but excluding any mention of statutory grounds 1, 4, 5 and 6.
§ Mr. FreemanThere was one abortion notification form received for England and Wales during 1988 for an abortion performed at 18 weeks' or more gestation, under either grounds 2 or 3 of the Abortion Act 1967, on which rape was mentioned. There were no mentions of incest in the same categories.
It should be noted that neither rape nor incest are in themselves statutory grounds for performing an abortion, and are not required to be specified on the notification form by the certifying doctor. The available data, therefore, can be compiled only from occasions on which such information is volunteered on the notification form.