§ Mr. AltonTo ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list the procedures for abortion included within the Office of Population Censuses and Surveys statistics under the terms(a) other surgical, (b) other medical and (c) other and combined methods.
§ Mr. FreemanThis information can be provided only at disproportionate cost.
§ Mr. AltonTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps his Department has taken to ensure that all selective reductions of pregnancy are being registered under the terms of the Abortion Act 1967.
§ Mrs. Virginia BottomleyI am advised that doctors should perform selective reduction of pregnancy only if the requirements of the Abortion Act 1967 are fulfilled. All operating practitioners are required to notify the Chief Medical Officer, within seven days, of each abortion they perform.
§ Mr. AltonTo ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to his answer to the hon. Member for Liverpool, Mossley Hill, on 20 February, if his Department has sought or received information from the Humana hospital regarding the selective reductions of pregnancy carried out there.
§ Mrs. Virginia BottomleyThe Department does not release information of a confidential nature about treatment given to patients in hospitals or elsewhere.