Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to improve the accuracy of data about complications arising from medical abortions.

It is a legal requirement in England and Wales that all terminations must be notified to the Chief Medical Officer within 14 days of the procedure. The HSA4 abortion notification form is provided to collect the required information up until the time of the patient’s discharge from the abortion service. Information is collected on the abortion and the woman that had the abortion, including the method of the abortion, whether any abortion pills were taken at home, the gestation, or number of weeks, and details of any known complications.

The Department continues to work with abortion providers to ensure that abortion complications known up until the time of discharge from the abortion service are recorded on the HSA4 form. There are no plans to require the notification of complications that occur after discharge from the abortion service.

Abortion continues to be a very safe procedure, for which major complications are rare at all gestations. Home use of early medical abortion pills is recognised to be a safe procedure by the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, and the World Health Organisation