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Treasury

Answer

Mr. Redmond: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make statement on the statistically most likely candidate for an abortion within the Trent region in the latest year for which figures are available in terms of (a) the age of the woman, (b) marital status of the woman, (c) the number of previous children of the woman and (d) the grounds on which the abortion is performed. [40858] Mrs. Knight: The statistically most likely candidate for an abortion for each of the variables listed is defined as the category with the highest recorded frequency of legal terminations. The percentages are based on all legal terminations performed in 1994, to women usually resident in the Trent health region. The categories with the highest frequencies found in each of the variables are as follows: age of the woman: 20 to 24 age group comprised 29 per cent. (3,463) of all terminations; marital status: single women comprised 64 per cent. (7,570) of all terminations; number of previous children borne by the woman: women with no previous (live and still born) children born to them, comprised 50 per cent. (5,923) of all terminations; legal ground under which the abortion was performed: statutory ground C alone comprised 86 per cent. (10,143) of all terminations. The definition of ground C is "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 woman". Reference: 1994 Abortion Statistics, England and Wales, Series AB No. 21, HMSO publication 1996.

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

40858; 282 c1114-5W;282 c1112-3W

Session

1995-96

Subjects

Abortion Statistics Trent Health Region