To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list by health district, for the last available year, (a) the percentage of second trimester abortions and (b) the abortion rate.

The information requested has been placed in the Library.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he has any plans to seek to change (a) the legal requirements concerning notification of abortions to the chief medical officer or (b) the penalties in cases where such requirements are not met; and if he will make a statement.

The regulations relating to notification of abortions to the chief medical officer would need to be amended to meet the requirements of any changes Parliament decided to make to the law on abortion during the passage of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill. We have no plans in relation to the penalty prescribed in section 2(3) of the Abortion Act 1967 as amended.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what explanations have been offered to the chief medical officer explaining late submissions of abortion notifications.

Most of the notifications in question were completed at the time of termination. The explanations given to the chief medical officer are usually admitted oversight, personnel changes, forms being temporarily mislaid through filing in hospital notes, or staff illness.