HC Deb 24 March 1993 vol 221 cc617-8W
Mrs. Bridget Prentice

To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many abortions, funded by the NHS, were performed(a) in hospitals, (b) by charitable organisations and (c) by commercial organisations on women resident in England and Wales in each year since 1981.

Mr. Sackville

The information requested can be provided only at disproportionate cost. However, statistics of the number of abortions performed since 1981 on women resident in England and Wales in (a) national health service hospitals and (b) non-NHS premises under agency agreement (that is, abortions performed on NHS patients in non-NHS premises) are shown in the table.

Year Number of abortions carried out in NHS hospitals Number of abortions carried out under agency agreement
1981 61,103 2,343
1982 62,409 4,425
1983 62,609 4,614

Year Number of abortions carried out in NHS hospitals Number of abortions carried out under agency agreement
1984 64,823 4,912
1985 65,176 5,929
1986 67,451 6,819
1987 69,442 8,041
1988 69,103 9,357
1989 70,722 9,200
1990 73,517 9,582
1991 75,172 9,197

Mrs. Bridget Prentice

To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will list the number of NHS abortions under 13 weeks since the last menstrual period, and the number of these operations involving admission and discharge on the same date, performed on women resident in each regional health authority and in each district health authority area in England and Wales in 1991.

Mr. Sackville

The information has been placed in the Library.

Mrs. Bridget Prentice

To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many pregnancies were terminated in the United Kingdom in each year since 1987.

Mr. Sackville

The Abortion Act 1967 applies to Great Britain only. The numbers of legal abortions notified to the chief medical officers of England, Wales and Scotland in each year since 1987 are shown in the table:

Year Number of Abortions
1987 183,736
1988 193,926
1989 194,183
1990 197,131
1991 190,562