§ Mr. Simon HughesTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many surgical terminations of pregnancy there were in each of the last 15 months for which figures are available; and how many maternal deaths there were in each month. [20150]
§ Mrs. Angela KnightThe information requested falls within the responsibility of the chief executive of the Office for National Statistics. I have asked him to arrange for a reply to be given.
Letter from John Fox to Mr. Simon Hughes, dated 18 March 1997:
The Chancellor of the Exchequer has asked the Director of the Office for National Statistics to reply to your recent question on how many surgical terminations of pregnancy were performed in each of the last 15 months for which figures are available, and how many maternal deaths there were in each month. In his absence, the Director has asked me to reply.The monthly number of surgical terminations of pregnancy performed on women residents and non-residents of England and Wales in the last 15 months for which data are available, namely April 1995-June 1996, are as follows:
Number of surgical terminations 1995 April 12,150 May 13,479 June 14,358 July 13,880 August 13,971 September 13,484 October 13,503 November 13,448 December 12,368 1996 January 14,558 February 15,360 March 15,494 April 14,549 May 15,793 June 14,809 There were no maternal deaths recorded over the 15 month period.