---

21 Nov 2007 : Column WA69

21 Nov 2007 : Column WA69

Written Answers

Wednesday 21 November 2007

Abortion

Baroness Gould of Potternewton asked Her Majesty's Government:

What is the current rate of abortion in England and Wales per 1,000 women aged 15 to 44 compared with other European countries. [HL21]

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health (Lord Darzi of Denham): The information requested is set out in the following table.

Abortion rates for EU27 countries, latest year, where available.
	Rate per 1,000 women aged 15-44
	2004	2005	2006
Belgium		8.0
Bulgaria		26.1
Czech Republic		12.2
Denmark		14.3
Estonia		33.1
Finland		11.0
France			14.5
Germany			7.2
Hungary		23.4
Italy			9.1
Latvia		25.5
Lithuania		13.2
Malta		0.0
Netherlands		8.6
Poland	0.0
Romania		33.9
Slovakia		15.7
Slovenia		13.8
Spain		9.6
Sweden		20.2
United Kingdom	16.0
England and Wales	16.9	17.0	17.5

Sources and Notes

Belgium. Source: Federal Public Service of Public Health, Food Chain Safety and Environment.

Czech Republic. Source: Institute of Health Information and Statistics of CR (IHIS CR).

Denmark. Source: Vital statistics, Statistics Denmark.

Estonia. Source: Estonian Abortion Registry.

Finland. Source: Register on Induced Abortions and Sterilizations, STAKES.

21 Nov 2007 : Column WA70

France. The data are underestimated.

Germany. Source: Federal Statistical Office, Statistics of legal abortions.

Italy. Source: ISTAT.

Lithuania. Source: LHIC, annual report data.

Netherlands. Source: Chief Medical Officer of Public Health.

Spain. Source: Ministry of Health and Consumer Affairs.

Slovakia. Source: Institute of Health Information Statistics.

Slovenia. Source: Institute of Public Health of the Republic of Slovenia.

Sweden. Source: Report from each clinic to the National Board of Health and Welfare.

Baroness Gould of Potternewton asked Her Majesty's Government:

What has been the annual percentage change in the number of conceptions that end in abortion for each year since 2000. [HL22]

Lord Darzi of Denham: The information requested is set out in the following table:

Annual statistics on abortions as a percentage of all conceptions (England and Wales) since 2000.

Conceptions—all ages

Year	Total (1,000's)	Percentage ending in abortion	Annual percentage point change from previous year
2000	767.0	22.7	0.1
2001	763.7	23.2	0.5
2002	787.0	22.5	-0.7
2003	806.8	22.5	0
2004	826.8	22.4	-0.1
2005	837.4	22.3	-0.1

Lord Alton of Liverpool asked Her Majesty's Government:

How many abortions on the grounds of rectifiable disabilities have occurred after 24 weeks’ gestation in the past 10 years. [HL186]

Lord Darzi of Denham: The number of abortions that are performed at 24 weeks’ gestation and over by principal medical condition if performed under Section 1(1)(d) of the Abortion Act 1967 are in the following tables. Abortions performed under this section are those where 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. Medical conditions recorded under Section 1(1)(d) are coded using the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems (10th edition) published by the World Health Organisation.

21 Nov 2007 : Column WA71



21 Nov 2007 : Column WA72

Principal medical condition for abortions performed under ground E, over 24 weeks’ gestation, residents, England and Wales, 1997-2002
							numbers
ICD-10 Code 1	Condition	19972	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002
Total grounds E alone or with any other		74	73	89	94	100	114
Q00-Q89	Congenital malformations total	57	59	61	59	63	79
Q00-Q07	the nervous system total	31	26	36	35	27	42
Q00	anencephaly	1	1	2	3	2	2
Q01	encephalocele	0	1	1	0	0	1
Q02	microcephaly	1	1	5	0	2	1
Q03	hydrocephalus	15	8	5	17	4	9
Q04	other malformations of the brain	8	7	7	7	12	15
Q05	spina bifida	3	4	6	8	7	6
Q06-Q07	other	3	4	10	0	0	8
Q10-Q89	other congenital malformations total	26	33	25	24	36	37
Q10-Q18	the eye, ear, face and neck	0	0	0	0	0	0
Q20-Q28	the cardiovascular system	7	13	10	8	15	13
Q30-Q34	the respiratory system	0	0	1	0	3	4
Q35-Q37	cleft lip and cleft palate	0	0	0	0	1	0
Q38-Q45	other malformations of the digestive system	0	0	1	3	0	1
Q50-Q56	the genital organs	0	0	0	0	0	0
Q60-Q64	the urinary system	7	7	6	8	4	4
Q65-Q79	the musculoskeletal system	8	9	2	4	6	10
Q80-Q85	the skin, breast integument phakomatoses	0	0	0	0	0	1
Q86-Q89	other	4	4	5	1	7	4
Q90-Q99	Chromosomal abnormalities total	12	10	17	20	24	25
Q90	Down’s syndrome	5	4	4	5	11	7
Q910-Q913	Edwards’ syndrome	5	1	2	5	9	6
Q914-Q917	Patau’s syndrome	1	2	4	4	1	1
Q92-Q99	Other	1	3	7	6	3	11
	Other conditions total	5	4	11	15	13	10
P00-P04	foetus affected by maternal factors	0	0	2	1	0	1
P05-P08	foetal disorders related to gestation and growth	3	1	4	8	7	2
P35-P39	foetus affected by congential infectious disease	1	1	0	2	1	0
P55	haemolytic disease of foetus and newborn	0	0	2	1	0	4
P832-P833	hydrop foetalis not due to haemolytic disease	1	2	1	2	5	0
O30	multiple gestation	0	0	0	0	0	0
O42	premature rupture of membranes	0	0	0	0	0	0
Z20-Z22	exposure to communicable disease	0	0	0	0	0	0
Z245	need for immunisation against rubella	0	0	0	0	0	0
Z80-Z84	family history of heritable disorder	0	0	2	1	0	3

¹ ICD-10 codes are taken from the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems (10th revision) published by the World Health Organisation (WHO).

² Figures for 1997 include 10 cases for non-residents of England and Wales, in addition to 64 cases for residents of England and Wales. It is not possible to provide resident-only figures for disease categories for this year for reasons of confidentiality.

Section 1(1)(b): that the termination is necessary to prevent grave permanent injury to the physical or mental health of the pregnant woman (ground B).

Section 1(1)(c ): that the continuance of the pregnancy would involve risk to the life of the pregnant woman, greater than if the pregnancy were terminated (ground A)

Section 1(1)(d): 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 (ground E).

Section 1(4): that the termination is immediately necessary to save the life (ground F) or to prevent grave permanent injury to the physical or mental health of the pregnant woman (ground G).

---