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Abortion

Volume 495: debated on Friday 3 July 2009

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what proportion of women who had an abortion in 2008 were married at the time of the abortion; what the modal (a) age of the women, (b) length of gestation of the pregnancy, (c) number of previous children born to the women and (d) number of previous abortions undergone by the women were; and what the most common legal grounds were under which such abortions were performed. (283722)

The information is shown in the following table.

Most common1 conditions for married women2 having abortions in 2008

Total

Age

Gestation

Number of previous children

Number of previous abortions

Ground

England

29,131

29

7

2

0

3—

1 Statistical mode (highest frequency)

2 Includes women in a civil partnership

3 That the pregnancy has not exceeded its 24th week and that the continuance of the pregnancy would involve risk, greater than if the pregnancy were terminated, of injury to the physical or mental health of the pregnant woman

To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many women aged (a) 18, (b) 17, (c) 16, (d) 15, (e) 14, (f) 13 and (g) 12 years old in each strategic health authority area who had had (i) one, (ii) two, (ii) three, (iv) four, (v) five, (vi) six, (vii) seven, (viii) eight, (ix) nine and (x) 10 or more previous abortions had an abortion in 2008. (283724)

The information is shown in the following table.

Previous abortions by age under 19 and strategic health authority of residence, 2008

Age

Strategic health Authority

Previous abortions

Under 18

18

Total under age 19

East

0

1,431

891

2,322

1+

106

173

279

Total

1,537

1,064

2,601

East Midlands

0

1,342

697

2,039

1+

84

98

182

Total

1,426

795

2,221

London

0

2,756

1,601

4,357

1+

372

464

836

Total

3,128

2,065

5,193

North East

0

946

424

1,370

1+

56

55

111

Total

1,002

479

1,481

North West

0

2,674

1,385

4,059

1 +

206

218

424

Total

2,880

1,603

4,483

South Central

0

1,052

547

1,599

1 +

83

105

188

Total

1,135

652

1,787

South East

0

1,259

692

1,951

1 +

105

124

229

Total

1,364

816

2,180

South West

0

1,509

756

2,265

1 +

114

111

225

Total

1,623

867

2,490

Yorkshire and Humber

0

1,858

933

2,791

1 +

127

144

271

Total

1,985

1,077

3,062

West Midlands

0

2,046

1,001

3,047

1 +

213

241

454

Total

2,259

1,242

3,501

England

0

16,873

8,927

25,800

1+

1,466

1,733

3,199

Total

18,339

10,660

28,999

Note:

Ages and number of previous abortions are grouped where totals are less than 10 (between 0 and nine) or where a presented total would reveal a suppressed value from previously published data, in line with the Office for National Statistics' guidance on the disclosure of abortion statistics (2005).

To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many women aged (a) 18 to 24 years and (b) 25 to 30 years old in each strategic health authority area who had had (i) one, (ii) two, (ii) three, (iv) four, (v) five, (vi) six, (vii) seven, (viii) eight, (ix) nine and (x) 10 or more previous abortions had an abortion in 2008. (283725)

The information is shown in the following table. Data are published in age group 25-29. Data are presented in the same format to make the maximum data available.

Previous abortions by age under 30 and strategic health authority of residence, 2008

Age

Strategic health authority

Previous abortions

18-24

25-29

East

0

4,809

2,031

1

1,489

984

2

263

296

3 or more

64

99

Total

6,625

3,410

East Midlands

0

3,919

1,555

1

1,038

694

2

158

212

3 or more

25

66

Total

5,140

2,527

London

0

11,443

6,818

1

4,795

3,817

2

1,063

1,167

3 or more

288

421

Total

17,589

12,223

North East

0

2,505

919

1

642

420

2

103

104

3 or more

30

41

Total

3,280

1,484

North West

0

8,067

3,138

1

2,399

1,526

2

384

339

3 or more

80

115

Total

10,930

5,118

South Central

0

3,445

1,513

1

1,033

752

2

168

164

3 or more

38

55

Total

4,684

2,484

South East

0

3,790

1,420

1

1,228

869

2

210

236

3 or more

46

80

Total

5,274

2,605

South West

0

4,357

1,689

1

1,113

784

2

166

169

3 or more

39

43

Total

5,675

2,685

Yorkshire and Humber

0

5,553

2,064

1

1,603

965

2

236

228

3 or more

79

68

Total

7,471

3,325

West Midlands

0

6,071

2,413

1

2,165

1,317

2

376

342

3 or more

85

124

Total

8,697

4,196

England

0

53,959

23,560

1

17,505

12,128

2

3,127

3,257

3 or more

774

1,112

Total

75,365

40,057

Note:

Number of previous abortions are grouped where totals are less than 10 (between 0 and 9) or where a presented total would reveal a suppressed value from previously published data, in line with the Office for National Statistics’ guidance on the disclosure of abortion statistics (2005).