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1 July 2008 : Column 844W—continued

Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many women in (a) Essex Strategic Health Authority and (b) England and Wales had an abortion in 2007 who had already had (i) one, (ii) two, (iii) three, (iv) four, (v) five, (vi) six, (vii) seven, (viii) eight, (ix) nine and (x) 10 or more previous abortions. [214068]

Dawn Primarolo: The information is set out in the following table.

Total abortions for residents of Essex( 1) , and England and Wales, by number of previous abortions, 2007
Number of previous abortions	Essex primary care trusts	England and Wales
0	3,564	134,269
1	1,346	49,484
2	326	11,136
3	74	2,605
4	—	740
5	—	184
6	—	52
7 or more	—	29
Total	5,341	198,499
‘—’Suppressed value less than 10 (between 0 and 9) or where a presented value would reveal a suppressed total less than 10. (1) Totals shown relate to PCTs for Mid Essex, North East Essex, South East Essex, South West Essex and West Essex. Note: Totals are grouped where there are less than 10 cases

Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what recent assessment he has made of the effect of the availability of the morning-after pill on the abortion rate in England; and if he will make a statement; [214069]

(2) what research his Department (a) has commissioned, (b) plans to commission and (c) has evaluated on the reasons for trends in the abortion rate in England in 2006 and 2007; and if he will make a statement. [214070]

Dawn Primarolo: No assessment has been made of the effect of the morning after pill on the abortion rate in England.

The reasons women seek an abortion are complex and may be subject to a number of different factors. It is difficult to attribute any changes to one intervention or event such as the increased availability of emergency contraception.

The 2007 abortion statistics show an increase in the number of abortions in younger women which is why we have invested £26.8 million in 2008-09 to improve women’s access to contraception and help reduce the number of abortions, repeat abortions and teenage pregnancies.

Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many clinics are registered to perform abortions in (a) Southend and (b) Essex; whether they receive public funding to carry out these procedures; and if he will make a statement. [214071]

Dawn Primarolo: There is one independent sector clinic in Essex registered with the Healthcare Commission to perform abortions, there are none in Southend. The clinic performs national health service-funded and privately-funded abortions. NHS hospitals are not required to register to perform abortions.

Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the abortion rates among girls aged under (a) 18 and (b) 16 years were in 2007, broken down by region. [214072]

Dawn Primarolo: The information is set out in the following table.

1 July 2008 : Column 845W

Abortion rates for women age under 16 and under 18, by region of residence, 2007.
	Rate per 1 , 000 women( 1)
Region (Strategic Health Authority)	Under 16	Under 18
East Midlands	4	17
East of England	3	17
London	5	27
North East	6	21
North West	5	22
South Central	4	16
South East Coast	4	17
South West	4	17
West Midlands	5	21
Yorkshire and The Humber	5	21
Wales	4	18
England and Wales	4	20
(1) Rates for ages under 16 and under 18 are based on populations 13 to 15 and 15 to 17 respectively. Rates are based on 2006 mid year population estimates.

1 July 2008 : Column 846W

Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many abortions were performed in (a) Southend and (b) Essex in 2007, broken down by (a) age of the woman, (b) grounds of the abortion and (c) gestation of the pregnancy. [214073]

Dawn Primarolo: The information is set out in the following table.

Abortions for residents of Essex primary care trusts (PCTs)( 1) by age, gestation and grounds, 2007
Age	South East Essex	North East Essex	Mid Essex	South West Essex	West Essex	Total Essex PCTs
under 16	22	23	22	24	21	112
16	34	30	30	43	36	173
17	51	42	48	85	56	282
18	76	70	61	76	59	342
19	60	58	48	73	62	301
20	68	52	66	86	54	326
21	60	51	45	77	57	290
22	52	34	63	79	53	281
23	52	40	49	89	50	280
24	49	32	44	66	48	239
25	34	36	33	85	52	240
26	47	27	30	80	55	239
27	42	34	38	61	51	226
28	35	22	39	71	36	203
29	32	17	28	61	25	163
30	37	17	25	57	28	164
31	31	16	31	54	34	166
32	30	19	19	43	26	137
33	30	18	31	36	35	150
34	38	23	29	40	26	156
35	31	17	23	39	24	134
36	18	15	25	39	29	126
37	28	12	29	36	26	131
38	22	19	19	38	22	120
39	15	13	21	35	21	105
40 and over	40	28	55	74	58	255
Total	1,034	765	951	1,547	1,044	5,341

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