If England and Wales had 143 abortions to save the Mum’s life in 43 years how has NI managed 79 per annum over the past 5 years?
14 August 2012
Statement by TUV leader Jim Allister:
“I was shocked to learn from an answer provided by Her Majesty’s Government to Cross-Bench peer Lord Alton of Liverpool that between 1968 and 2011 an incredible 6.4 million unborn children have been aborted in England and Wales. This figure is higher than most estimates for the number of Jews murdered during the Nazi Holocaust - a truly appalling statistic.
“However, the statistics uncovered by Lord Alton raise troubling questions about abortion in our own Province. Lord Alton was informed that of the 6.4 million abortions just “143 (o.oo6%) were performed under Section 1(4), [of the 1967 Abortion Act] ie where the termination is immediately necessary to save the life of the pregnant woman or to prevent grave permanent injury to the physical or mental health of the pregnant woman.”
“Even if one includes the number of abortions performed under Section 1(1)(c) (ie that the continuance of pregnancy would involve the risk to the life of the woman, greater than if the pregnancy were terminated) one still only arrives at a figure of 23,921 abortions across England and Wales over a period of more than 40 years or around 556 a year.
“If there have only been 143 abortions in England and Wales in 43 years to save the life of the mother how on earth has Northern Ireland - a country with 1/31 of the population of England and Wales –averaged 79 abortions a year for the past five years?
“In June of last year in answer to a written Assembly question from myself Edwin Poots revealed that there had been 394 abortions in Northern Ireland since 2006 and bizarrely that “information on the reason for abortion is not collected centrally.”
“Since then I have been pressing the Health Minister to revise the current practice of not recording and collating the reasons for abortions. To date the Minister has been unwilling to provide a satisfactory answer, saying that he will not do so until his Department publishes revised guidance on the termination of pregnancy.
“I hope that this troubling data will spur the Minister to action and ensure that data on why abortions are performed in Northern Ireland is collected in order to reassure the people of our Province that the law is being complied with.”
Note to editors
Lord Alton of Liverpool’s question and the answer received are as follows:
Asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many abortions have been performed under the provisions of the Abortion Act 1967 (as amended by Section 37 of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990) to the latest date available; and how many of those abortions were to save the life of the pregnant woman.[HL1563]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health (Earl Howe): Between 1968 and 2011 (the latest year for which figures are available) there have been 6.4 million abortions performed on residents of England and Wales. Of these, 143 (0.006%) were performed under Section 1(4), ie where the termination is immediately necessary to save the life of the pregnant woman or to prevent grave permanent injury to the physical or mental health of the pregnant woman.
A further 23,778 (0.37%) abortions were performed under Section 1(1)(c), ie that the continuance of pregnancy would involve the risk to the life of the woman, greater than if the pregnancy were terminated.
Mr Allister’s questions and the answers received are reproduced below:
To ask the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety to detail the number of abortions which have been carried out in each Health and Social Care Trust area in each of the last five years; and the reasons for each abortion.
The answer to this question is online here.
To ask the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety, pursuant to AQW 203/11-15, whether he will review the current practice of not recording and collating the reasons for abortions.
On 13 March 2009 my Department asked the then HSS Boards and Trusts to develop a regional care pathway and pro-forma to record terminations of pregnancy in Northern Ireland.
This work has ceased pending a decision on how to comply with the 2004 Court of Appeal order requiring my Department to produce Guidance on the Termination of Pregnancy.
To ask the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety, pursuant to AQW 768/11-15, why deliberations on a Guidance on the Termination of Pregnancy precludes the recording and collation of the reasons for abortions performed in Northern Ireland.
I can confirm that there is no reason why deliberations on Guidance on the Termination of Pregnancy precludes the recording and collation of the reasons for terminations of pregnancy performed in Northern Ireland.
As you will be aware, termination of pregnancy is a very difficult and controversial subject in Northern Ireland. I am currently considering a number of issues relating to this subject, including the question of whether more detail on terminations of pregnancy carried out in this province should be collected.
To ask the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety, pursuant to AQW 1418/11-15, when the Guidance on the Termination of Pregnancy will be published.
I am currently considering the Guidance on the Termination of Pregnancy and as yet, no date has been set for its publication. I hope to be in a position to advance this matter shortly.
To ask the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety, pursuant to AQW 5978/11-15, for an update on when the Guidance on the Termination of Pregnancy will be published.
The revised guidance is currently under consideration. I am unable to provide a date for publication at this time.
To ask the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety, pursuant to AQW 1943/11-15, for an update on when the Guidance on the Termination of Pregnancy will be published.
I have directed my Department to reconsider the revised Guidance.
It is not possible to confirm when guidance will be issued.
