The number of abortions that are performed at 24 weeks' gestation and over by principal medical condition if performed under Section l(l)(d) of the Abortion Act 1967 can be found in Table 9 of Abortion Statistics, England and Wales: 2008, and a copy of this table is as follows.
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 l(l)(d) are coded using the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems (10th edition) published by the World Health Organisation.
ICD-10 code1 Condition Total Over 24 weeks gestation Total grounds E alone or with any other 1,988 1242 Q00-Q89 Congenital malformations total 956 85 Q00-Q07 the nervous system total 477 42 Q00 anencephaly 172 3— Q1 encephalocele 20 3— Q3 hydrocephalus 33 3— Q4 other malformations of the brain 75 21 Q05 spina bifida 118 3— Q02,Q06, Q07 other 59 11 Q10-Q89 other congenital malformations total 479 43 Q20-Q28 the cardiovascular system 124 17 Q30-Q34 the respiratory system 10 3— Q60-Q64 the urinary system 101 14 Q65-Q79 the musculoskeletal system 147 3— Q10-Q18, Q35-Q56, Q80-Q89 other 97 3— Q90-Q99 Chromosomal abnormalities total 739 27 Q90 Down's syndrome 436 3— Q910-Q913 Edwards' syndrome143 143 3— Q914-Q917 Patau's syndrome 61 3— Q92-Q99 other 99 3— Other conditions total 293 12 P00-P04 fetus affected by maternal factors 99 3— P05-P08 fetal disorders relating to gestation and growth 15 3— P832-P833 hydrops fetalis not due to haemolytic disease 27 3— Z80-Z84 family history of heritable disorder 140 3— Other4 12 3— 1 ICD-10 codes are taken from the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems (Tenth Revision) published by the World Health Organisation (WHO). Figures for specific groups shown only where there are 10 or more cases in total 2 Over 24 week total includes abortions carried out under grounds A, B, F or G. 3 Fewer than 10 cases (0-9) or where a presented figure would reveal a suppressed value. 4 Includes cases where insufficient detail was available to allocate an ICD10 code.
There were 124 abortions performed at gestations of 24 weeks or over in 2008.