Asked by: Lord Shinkwin (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what proportion of overall pregnancy terminations have been carried out in accordance with paragraph (d) of section 1(1) of the Abortion Act 1967 in each of the past five years.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
We are unable to provide the data requested for 2022 and 2023 as these statistics have not yet been published. Abortion statistics for 2022 are provisionally scheduled to be published in May 2024. The date of publication of abortion statistics for 2023 will be announced in due course.
The following table shows information on the proportion of overall pregnancy terminations carried out in accordance with paragraph (d) of section 1(1) of the Abortion Act 1967 between 2019 and 2021:
Year | Proportion (%) |
2019 | 2.0 |
2020 | 1.5 |
2021 | 1.6 |
Source: NHS England
Correspondence Dec. 19 2023
Committee: Health, Social Care and Sport CommitteeFound: Abortion Services (Safe Access Zones) (Scotland) Bill Memorandum Letter from the Scottish Government
Asked by: Fiona Bruce (Conservative - Congleton)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will have discussions with the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists on the adequacy of the range of stakeholders consulted for the guidance for healthcare staff on Involvement of the Police and External Agencies following Abortion, Pregnancy Loss and Unexpected Delivery it issued on 22 January 2024.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The recent guidance for healthcare staff on the involvement of the police and external agencies following abortion, pregnancy loss, and unexpected delivery, was produced independently by the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists. The Department does not intend to review the stakeholder consultation related to this guidance. Abortion is an issue on which the Government adopts a neutral stance, and it is for Parliament to decide the circumstances under which abortions should take place. The Department’s focus is on patient safety and ensuring the law, as set out in the Abortion Act 1967, is applied to ensure women can access to safe, high-quality services.
Dec. 21 2023
Source Page: All meetings held with the Scottish Abortion Care Providers Network: FOI releaseFound: All meetings held with the Scottish Abortion Care Providers Network: FOI release
Jun. 19 2008
Source Page: Abortion statistics, England and Wales 2007. Statistical Bulletin 2008/01. 34 p.Found: Abortion statistics, England and Wales 2007. Statistical Bulletin 2008/01. 34 p.
A Bill to lower the gestational time limit for abortion to 12 weeks
Dec. 07 2010
Source Page: Parliamentary Archives catalogue search for abortion and medical termination of pregnancy 1965 to 1967. 11 p.Found: Parliamentary Archives catalogue search for abortion and medical termination of pregnancy 1965 to 1967
Decriminalise abortion to protect rights of women and girls to access healthcare
- 113 Signatures
(Estimated Final Signatures: 162 - 2 added in the past 24hrs)
Remove the Abortion Act 1967 to make all abortion safely accessible to all women and girls.
Found: Decriminalise abortion to protect rights of women and girls to access healthcare
Correspondence Dec. 19 2023
Committee: Health, Social Care and Sport CommitteeFound: Abortion protests and vigils year one report Report from the Scottish Government concerning protests
Asked by: Lord Jackson of Peterborough (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government how the policy of not collecting data on complications, via Abortion Notification System and Hospital Episode Statistics, arising from at home medical abortions after the patient’s discharge from the care of the abortion service, accords with the commitment to collect empirical data to women’s improve health outcomes as outlined in the Government’s Women’s Health Strategy for England.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Women’s Health Strategy sets out our ambitions to make better use of data already collected, and to address gaps in women’s health data to improve women’s health outcomes.
The Department routinely publishes data on abortion complications reported via the Abortion Notification System. In addition, the Department committed to publishing a one-time analysis exploring whether Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) can be used as a supplementary source for data on abortion complications. The HES data in the publication includes abortion complications arising from any abortion which resulted in an inpatient admission.
The Department is now inviting views from third parties on abortion statistics for England and Wales, including the future publication of abortion complications data, via an online user engagement survey and via email.