Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask Her Majesty's Government how many safe abortions they provided funding for through the Prevention of Maternal Death from Unwanted Pregnancy project.

The Prevention of Maternal Death from Unwanted Pregnancy programme aimed to help women and girls avoid recourse to unsafe abortion and to increase access to voluntary family planning.

The programme supported integrated sexual and reproductive health services designed around women’s needs, for example providing a woman with holistic care for HIV, counselling, post-abortion care and information on family planning. Because these services are integrated, it is not possible to disaggregate figures solely relating to safe abortion procedures.

Modelling estimates are that the project helped to avert 7.1 million unsafe abortions through such approaches over the lifetime of the programme. This is the estimated impact of holistic approaches including contraception, information and provision of safe alternatives; all of which help women avoid having to go through the trauma and life-threatening health risks of unsafe abortions.