§ Jim Dobbin:To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what plans he has to seek an amendment to the law on abortion to allow women undergoing medical abortion to self administer the prostaglandin at home; 131849]
(2) how many abortions have been performed in the United Kingdom on the grounds of foetal handicap under the provisions of the Abortion Act 1967 (as amended); and what percentage of the total number of abortions performed under the Abortion Act 1967 (as amended) this constitutes; [131850]
(3) how many abortions have been performed in the United Kingdom in order to save the life of the mother under the provisions of the Abortion Act 1967 (as amended); and what percentage of the total number of abortions performed under the Abortion Act 1967 (as amended) this constitutes; [131851]
(4) when the Government last commissioned research on the safety of the abortion pill mifepristone. [131852]
§ Miss Melanie Johnson:The Government have no plans to seek an amendment to the law on abortion. All abortions in England are currently carried out under Section 1(3) of the Abortion Act which states that any treatment for the termination of pregnancy must be carried out in an NHS hospital or an approved independent sector place. There is provision under Section 1(3a) for medical abortion to be carried out in an approved class of place but we have not yet determined what a "class of place" should be. No "class of place" will be approved unless we are content that a woman's safety is not at risk.
The safety of mifepristone was fully evaluated on behalf of the Government at the time of granting a marketing authorisation in 1991 by the Medicines Control Agency (MCA). The use of mifepristone is continually monitored by the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (formerly the MCA) using spontaneous adverse drug reaction reports, periodic safety reviews and all other available safety data to ensure its continued safe use. Also, there have been a number of studies and reviews of the safety of mifepristone published in the scientific literatures since 1991.
In the years 1968 to 2001 inclusive, there were 4.56 million reported abortions performed on residents of England and Wales. Of these, 63,897, or 1.4 per cent., were performed under section 1(l)(d) of the Abortion Act 1967 as amended. These are cases where there was a 82W substantial risk that if the child were born it would suffer from such physical or mental abnormalities as to be seriously handicapped. 39,464, or 0.9 per cent., of the total were performed under section 1(l)(c) of the Abortion Act 1967 as amended. These are cases where the continuance of the pregnancy would involve risk to the life of the pregnant woman; greater than if the pregnancy were terminated.
The Abortion Act 1967 applies to England, Wales and Scotland only. Abortions performed in Scotland are a matter for the Scottish Executive.
§ Peter Bottomley:To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many abortions there have been, and what the annual percentage change has been, since 1996. [131666]
§ Miss Melanie Johnson:The total numbers of abortions performed on residents of England and Wales under the Abortion Act 1967 (as amended) for each year since 1996 and the annual percentage change are shown in the table.
Total number of abortions Year on year percentage change 1996 167,916 — 1997 170,145 +1.3 1998 177,871 +4.5 1999 173,701 —2.3 2000 175,542 + 1.1 2001 176,364 + 0.5 Information on abortions in Scotland are a matter for the Scottish Executive. The Abortion Act 1967 does not apply to Northern Ireland.