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Baroness Cox asked Her Majesty's Government:
- How many late abortions were performed in each of the last ten years for which figures are available in pregnancies of:
(a) 24 weeks;
(b) 25 weeks;
(c) 26 weeks;
(d) 27 weeks;
(e) 28 weeks;
(f) Over 28 weeks; and
-
whether they will indicate the numbers and percentages of those abortions which were performed on legal grounds. [HL2609]
Baroness Andrews: The following table shows numbers of abortions performed at more than 24 weeks 0 days gestation for the years 1991 to 2001.
A pregnancy may be terminated only if two registered medical practitioners are of the opinion, formed in good faith, that an abortion is justified within the terms of the Abortion Act 1967, as amended. All of the abortions (100 per cent) shown in the table were legally performed under the grounds set out in the Act.
Footnotes
*Includes eight abortions that were performed in the first part of the year before the Abortion Act was amended by the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990.
(1) Figures for 1991 to 1997 are of abortions performed at 25 weeks 0 days gestation or more; figures from 1998 onwards are of abortions performed at more than 24 weeks 0 days gestation. Prior to 1998, data on terminations performed at gestations of up to 24 weeks 6 days were included in the 23–24 gestation band. The data for terminations performed at 24 weeks 1 day or more cannot be separately identified within this, and are therefore not available.
Baroness Cox asked Her Majesty's Government:
Baroness Andrews: We do not publish regional data on abortions performed under Section 1(1)(d) of the Abortion Act, as amended (that there is a substantial risk that if the child were born it would suffer from such physical or mental abnormalities as to be seriously handicapped). This is because of the small numbers involved which might lead to identification of individual cases. We have therefore set out the data in the following separate tables. The first table shows the number of conditions cited for abortions performed under Section 1(1)(d) of the Act and the second shows all abortions performed under Sections 1(1)(b), 1(1)(c) and 1(1)(d) beyond 24-weeks gestation in 2000 and 2001.
(1) Footnote
Figures are of abortions under Section 1(1)(d) performed at more than 24 weeks 0 days gestation.
Baroness Masham of Ilton asked Her Majesty's Government:
Baroness Andrews: In England we are taking a number of steps through the Sexual Health and HIV Strategy and the Teenage Pregnancy Strategy to reduce the rate of unintended pregnancy, which should lead to a reduction in the number of abortions. We are working to improve access to contraceptive services and the range of methods of contraception that are available; for example, the National Institute for
In November 2002 we launched the "Sex Lottery" campaign with an investment of £4 million over two years. The campaign is aimed at 18 to 30 year-olds, and promotes messages around safer sex and the use of
Policy on sexual health including reducing unintended pregnancies is devolved to the Scottish Parliament and the Welsh Assembly. The Abortion Act 1967, as amended, does not apply to Northern Ireland where it is not legal to carry out a therapeutic termination of pregnancy, other than to save the life of the mother or to prevent serious damage to her physical or mental health.
Earl Howe asked Her Majesty's Government:
Baroness Andrews: The Government are keeping the safety of bisphenol-A under review. We are aware of this recently published study which put forward the hypothesis that a slight increase in abnormalities seen in the eggs of female mice might be attributed to bisphenol-A leaching from damaged mouse cages.
In 2001 the Committee on Toxicity considered reports of apparent low dose effects associated with bisphenol-A. It advised that given the uncertain significance of the effects it was not appropriate to use such findings as the basis of a human health risk assessment.
Further research has been commissioned to investigate the implications of low level exposure to bisphenol-A. Meanwhile, industry is being encouraged to reduce levels of bisphenol-A to the lowest level possible.
Gestation in weeks
Total late abortions 24(1) 25 26 27 28 over 28
1991 60* 18 17 9 6 10
1992 60 18 6 5 5 26
1993 74 21 13 9 7 24
1994 94 23 21 9 13 28
1995 74 13 13 5 11 32
1996 107 31 21 9 11 35
1997 74 10 22 6 4 32
1998 88 11 14 10 13 8 32
1999 116 25 23 13 7 12 36
2000 126 23 21 15 11 12 44
2001 130 25 21 9 16 11 48
Whether they will give a breakdown by regional health authority of the number of abortions performed in the latest two years for which figures are available in pregnancies of—
14 May 2003 : Column WA40
(a) 24 weeks;
(b) 25 weeks;
(c) 26 weeks;
(d) 27 weeks;
(e) 28 weeks;
(f) over 28 weeks;
whether they will indicate the grounds upon which those abortions were performed; and, whether they will indicate where appropriate the nature of any possible handicap from which the baby might have been suffering.[HL2610]
2000 2001
Q00-Q89 Congenital malformations
anencephaly Q00 3 2
microcephaly Q02 0 2
congenital hydrocephalus Q03 17 4
other malformations of the brain Q04 7 12
spina bifida Q05 8 7
cardiovascular system Q20-Q28 8 15
respiratory system Q30-Q34 0 3
cleft lip and cleft palate Q35-Q37 0 1
other malformations of the digestive system Q38-Q45 3 0
urinary system Q60-Q64 8 4
musculoskeletal system Q65-Q79 4 6
other Q82-Q89 1 7
Q90-Q99 Chromosomal abnormalities
Down's Syndrome Q90 5 11
Edward's Syndrome Q91.3 5 9
Patau's Syndrome Q91.7 4 1
Not elsewhere classified Q92-Q99 6 3
Other conditions
Fetus affected by maternal complications P01-P04 1 0
Fetal disorders related to gestation and growth P05-P08 8 7
Fetus affected by congenital infectious disease P35-P39 2 1
Haemolytic disease of fetus and newborn P832-P833 1 0
Hydrops fetalis not due to haemolytic disease P83.2-P83.3 2 5
Family history of inheritable disorder Z80-Z84 1 0
Total 94 100
Gestation in weeks
2000 24(1)> 25 26 27 28 over 28 Total
Northern & Yorkshire 1 4 0 1 3 4 13
Trent 2 0 1 0 1 1 5 West Midlands 1 1 0 1 1 2 6
North-West 1 0 0 1 0 0 2
Eastern 4 3 2 2 1 6 18
London 8 8 5 0 3 9 33
South-East 4 3 5 2 0 3 17
South-West 1 0 0 1 0 1 3
Wales 0 1 0 0 0 1 2
2001
Northern & Yorkshire 3 5 1 3 1 4 18
Trent 0 4 0 0 0 0 4 West Midlands 1 2 1 0 1 2 7
North-West 0 0 0 0 0 3 4
Eastern 4 2 1 0 2 4 13
London 12 6 4 6 3 4 36
South-East 1 2 0 3 1 7 15
South-West 3 0 0 1 0 1 5
Wales 0 0 0 1 0 2 3
Whether they are taking steps to reduce the number of abortions in the United Kingdom.[HL2635]
What account they have taken of recently published research conducted by Case Western Reserve University, Ohio, which found that exposure to bisphenol, a component of plastic bottles, could be linked to chromosomal abnormalities in unborn children and to miscarriages.[HL2700]
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