§ Lord Stoddart of Swindonasked Her Majesty's Government:
How many unborn children have been aborted since the passing of the Abortion Act 1967; what is the current annual total of abortions performed and how many abortions are expected to be performed between now and the end of the century.
§ The Minister of State, Department of Social Security (Lord Mackay of Ardbrecknish)The information requested falls within the responsibility of the Chief Executive of the Office for National Statistics. He has been asked to arrange for a reply to be given.
Letter to Lord Stoddart of Swindon from the Chief Executive of the Office for National Statistics, Mr. Tim Holt, dated 28th November 1996.
I have been asked to reply as the Director of the Office for National Statistics to your recent question on the number of abortions that have been performed.
The total number of legal abortions performed under the Abortion Act 1967 in England, Wales and Scotland on residents and non-residents from 1968 to 1995 was 4,217,978*.
For the latest year for which data are available there were 174,781* legal abortions performed in 1995 on residents and non-residents of England, Wales and Scotland.
*The figures for the number of legal abortions performed in Scotland in 1995 are provisional.
No estimates are prepared on the projected number of abortions performed in Great Britain.