Sir David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) if he will place in the Library a copy of each document in his Department's file CPO 14/7 Abortion Laws in Other Countries; and if he will make a statement; (2) if he will place in the Library a copy of each document in his Department's file CPO 5/5 Publicity Material and Publications from Anti Abortion Organisation; and if he will make a...
Earl Howe: Abortion is legal only if carried out under the terms of the Abortion Act 1967 (as amended). An abortion performed under Section 1(1)(a) or Section 1(1)(b) of the Abortion Act (the continuance of pregnancy would involve risk, greater than if the pregnancy were terminated, of injury to the physical or mental health of the pregnant woman, or any existing children in her family) may be...
Lord Darzi of Denham: The information is shown in the following table for abortions performed in England and Wales since 1995. Prior to 1995, the International Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems codes did not include cleft lip and/or palate. For 1995 onwards, abortions with a principal medical condition of cleft lip or cleft palate are coded together as cleft lip and/or palate. Data cannot be...
Ben Bradshaw: Central records on abortive development costs to national health service trusts and payments to the private sector for abortive bid costs are only kept on private finance initiative (PFI) schemes with a capital value of over £25 million. These costs to the NHS trusts and payments to the private sector on each of the cancelled projects referred to in the answer of 9 March 2007, Official...
Dawn Primarolo: It is accepted parliamentary practice that proposals for changes in the law on abortion come from Back-Bench Members and that decisions are made on the basis of free votes. The Government have no plans to change the law on abortion. During 2008, we have received 200 letters on issues relating to abortion and around 1,650 letters about the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill, some of which...
Gerry Carroll: It is important that I get a chance to speak, but it is a shame that I do not get the same time as others. Today's debate about abortion has created confusion and outrage, and it is not difficult to see why. On the one hand, the Supreme Court declared that the restrictions on abortion at the heart of the DUP motion and the Sinn Féin amendment are a breach of human rights. The UN Deputy High...
Sir David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will place in the Library a copy of each document in his Department's file (a) CPO 14/7 Abortion Laws in Other Countries, (b) CPO 5/5 Publicity Material and Publications from Anti Abortion Organisation, (c) CPO 4/28 HF and A Amendment of the Abortion Act 1967 and (d) CPO 3/6 Abortion Act 1967 Correspondence between Sir Bernard Braine MP and...
Sir David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) under what circumstances abortions can be performed on the grounds that the foetus is female; what the form and timescale is of the investigation into reports of abortions being performed on the grounds that the foetus is female; whether that investigation will cover all abortion clinics in the UK; whether the relevant police forces and...
Sir David Amess: ...punishment. Because of its failure to act, murder as a crime goes unchecked and has, indeed, increased. Another type of murder is committed thoughout the world, and especially in Britain — abortion. A few weeks ago, I saw a film called "The Silent Scream" and witnessed the calculated destruction of a human being and the dismemberment and the extraction of an unborn baby from its...
Dawn Primarolo: The following guidance recommends that women should be provided with information on alternatives to abortion: Procedures for the approval of independent sector places for the termination of pregnancy, Department of Health, 1999; Independent Health Care National Minimum Standards, Department of Health, 2002; Effective Commissioning of Sexual health and HIV Services, A Sexual Health and HIV...
Mrs Elizabeth Peacock: I beg to move, That leave be given to bring in a Bill to prohibit partial-birth abortions. Partial-birth abortion is defined in the Bill as an abortion in which the person performing the abortion partially vaginally delivers a living foetus before killing the foetus and completing the delivery. The procedure, which originated in the United States, is usually used after the 20th week of...
Ann Winterton: ...of important issues on which opinions in the House and outside are deeply held and strongly felt. I share the hon. Gentleman's concern about the recent scenes that we have witnessed outside both abortion clinics and the administrative headquarters of those who advocate abortion. Those of us who are members of the all-party parliamentary pro-life group have no truck whatever with those...
Jackie Doyle-Price: The Department does not directly provide post-abortion support. The Secretary of State for Health approves independent sector providers to perform abortions and all providers must agree to comply with the Department’s Required Standard Operating Procedures (RSOPs). The RSOPs require all providers to have protocols in place covering the support that should be in place for women following an...
Jane Ellison: Except for emergencies, an abortion is only legal if two medical practitioners are of the opinion formed in good faith that there are grounds for an abortion within the Abortion Act 1967 (as amended). The two doctors are each required to certify that they have reached this opinion on Form HSA1, together with the ground for the abortion. Form HSA4 form is completed by the terminating...
Mr Bryan Gould: ..., Mr. Deputy Speaker, and that of the House, I beg leave to present a petition on behalf of 1,500 signatories from Southampton and the surrounding area. The petitioners are concerned that the Abortion (Amendment) Bill will restrict the availability of abortion and will therefore take away what they describe as a woman's essential right to avoid an accidental and unwanted pregnancy. They...
Andrew Mitchell: The Government have no such plans. It is not possible to disaggregate UK aid spending for safe abortion from wider expenditure on areas such as reproductive health care, maternal and neonatal health and health personnel development. This is because the Department for International Development (DFID) works to improve access to effective and integrated health services. It is a major priority...
Gillian Merron: ...'s Sexual Health and HIV Strategy for England is to reduce the number of unintended pregnancies. The standard national health service contract for 2009-10 includes a new clause to ensure that abortion providers improve access to the full range of contraception for women undergoing abortion. A specification for abortion services is currently being developed to support implementation of this...
Dawn Primarolo: Information relating to England (and Wales) is contained in the following table. Maternal deaths from legal and illegal abortions 1979 to 2005 Triennium 1979-81 1982-84 1985-87 1988-90 1991-93 1994-96 1997-99 2000-02 2003-05 Legal abortions 5 7 1 3 5 1 2 3 2 Illegal abortions 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 Total 6 7 1 3 5 1 2 3 3 ...
Earl Howe: My Lords, 91% of abortions in England and Wales were carried out at under 13 weeks' gestation and 78% were at under 10 weeks' gestation. The under-10 weeks' percentage has risen since 2002, when the figure was 57%. Returning to the question asked by my noble friend Lord Elton, the proportion of repeat abortions for all women having abortions in 2011 was 36%, which is slightly higher than the...
Jo Churchill: Abortions provided by independent sector abortion providers must meet the Required Standard Operating Procedures (RSOPs). The Department’s RSOPs set out that abortion providers should be able to supply all reversible methods of contraception, including long-acting reversible contraception (LARC) and that before the woman is discharged, future contraception should have been discussed and, as...