§ Lord Braine of Wheatleyasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they will publish in the Official Report a table showing: (a) the total number of abortions performed under the terms of the Abortion Act 1967 as amended by Section 34 of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990, from April 1968 to the latest available date; how many were performed (i) in an emergency to save the life of the mother, and (ii) in cases of rape, and what percentage this represents of all abortions performed; and (b) the total number of abortions according to the grounds of termination in each year since 1990 at 26 weeks and each week thereafter.
§ Baroness CumberlegeUp to 31st December 1992, a total of 3,911,680 abortions had been performed in Great Britain under the Abortion Act 1967 (as amended by Section 34 of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990) since its implementation. Of these, the number performed in emergency and certified by the operating practitioner as immediately necessary to "save the life of the pregnant woman" (Ground 5 prior to April 1991, Ground F subsequently) was 154 (0.004 per cent.).
Annual statistics on abortions are published (a) for England and Wales in Abortion Statistics (Office of Population Censuses and Surveys Series AB), and (b) for Scotland in Scottish Health Statistics, copies are available in the Library.
The information requested about cases of rape is not available in the precise form specified. As rape is not in itself a statutory ground for performing an abortion under the 1967 Act, and is not required to be specified on the notification form by the certifying doctor, the exact number of notifications of abortions associated with rape is not known. However, in some cases the information is volunteered, and arrangements have been made to code separately and analyse all notification forms which mention rape from 1987 in Great Britain. Of the 1,142,419 notifications received for the period 1987 to 31 December 1992 for abortions performed in Great Britain, 227 (0.02 per cent.) mentioned rape. Earlier, but non-comparable, data relating to abortions performed in England and Wales were collected clerically and published for the years 1968–73, in Table 12 of the Registrar General's Statistical Review, Supplement on Abortion, a copy of which is available in the Library. The reliability of these earlier data is uncertain.
A total of 63 abortions were notified in Great Britain in 1991 at 25 weeks or more, 44 of which were at 26 weeks or more; of the 63, eight were in the first quarter before the law on abortion changed on 1 April 1991. A more detailed analysis of these is as follows: 43WA
Number of weeks gestation 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 33 36 Number of abortions 19 18 9 6 6 2 1 1 1 Since 1st April 1991, for all terminations performed after the pregnancy had exceeded 24 weeks, the operating surgeon has been required to provide a full statement of the medical condition of the pregnant woman/foetus.
Of the 55 abortions performed at over 24 weeks between 1st April and 31st December 1991, one was under Ground A (that the continuance of the pregnancy would involve risk to the life of the pregnant woman greater than if the pregnancy were terminated) and the remaining 54 were under Ground E (that there was a substantial risk that if the child were born it would suffer from such physical or mental abnormalities as to be seriously handicapped). Information about abortions carried after 24 weeks in England and Wales in 1992 will be published by OPCS in Abortion Statistics early in 1995.