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22 July 2008 : Column 1072W—continued
| Abortions by age under 17, gestation and grounds, residents of England and Wales, 2006 | ||||||
| Gestation weeks | ||||||
| Age at termination | under nine | nine to 12 | 13 to 16 | 17 to 20 | 21 and over | Total |
| (1) where Ground C is grouped with other grounds totals for other grounds are less than 10. (2) Suppressed value less than 10 (between 0 and nine). (3) For gestations 13 weeks and over other grounds are included in the Ground C total. Note: Totals for individual years under age 14 are suppressed for confidentiality reasons. This suppression is in line with the Office for National Statistics’ guidance on the disclosure of abortion statistics (2005). | ||||||
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what his Department’s policy is on the availability of abortions to girls under the age of 16 years without parental knowledge or consent; and if he will make a statement; [219712]
(2) how many recent representations he has received (a) supporting and (b) opposing the introduction of legislation requiring that the parent or guardian of a girl under 16 years of age is informed before an abortion is performed on her; and if he will make a statement. [219713]
Dawn Primarolo: Young people aged under 16 are legally able to consent to medical advice and treatment, including abortion, if a doctor or other health care worker judges them competent to do so. As such, they are entitled to the same duty of care and confidentiality as older patients.
For those young women seeking an abortion, guidance from the Department of Health emphasises that health professionals should discuss the benefits of the young women involving her parents. Where she cannot be persuaded to do so, every effort should be made to find another adult to provide support, for example another family member or specialist youth worker.
The duty of confidentiality is not absolute. There will be instances when information needs to be shared with social services and/or the police without consent—where the young person is engaged in an abusive or coercive relationship, or there is another over-riding public interest to do so such as the prevention or detection of serious crime.
The High Court ruled in 2006 that the guidance is fully in line with the law.
The Department has received around 230 letters on abortion during 2008. We are unable to break this down in the format requested.
David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) how many abortions were carried out on women aged (a) 19, (b) 18, (c) 17, (d) 16, (e) 15, (f) 14 and (g) 13 years in England in each of the last three years (i) in total and (ii) broken down by region; [220140]
(2) how many births there were to mothers aged (a) 19, (b) 18, (c) 17, (d) 16, (e) 15, (f) 14 and (g) 13 years had in England in each of the last three years (i) in total and (ii) broken down by region. [220141]
Mr. Watson: I have been asked to reply.
The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.
Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated July 2008:
As National Statistician I have been asked to reply to your recent question asking how many births there were to mothers aged (a) 19, (b) 18, (c) 17, (d) 16, (e) 15, (f) 14 and (g) 13 years in England in each of the last three years (i) in total and (ii) broken down by region and how many abortions were carried out on females aged (a) 19, (b) 18, (c) 17, (d) 16, (e) 15, (f) 14 and (g) 13 years in England in each of the last three years (i) in total and (ii) broken down by region. (220140, 220141)
Available figures are estimates of the number of conceptions resulting in one or more live or stillbirths (a maternity) or an abortion.
To preserve confidentiality of individuals, figures for girls aged 13 and 14 have not been provided separately. Number of conceptions leading to a maternity or an abortion for girls aged under 15, 15, 16, 17, 18 and 19 for England and Government Office Regions for 2004 to 2006 (the most recent year for which figures are available), are shown in the attached table. Figures for 2006 are provisional.
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