The Department funds research on health and social care through the National Institute for Health Research. The Department has not commissioned any such studies directly concerned with the long-term effects of abortion. However, a study currently underway, aims to provide the research and practical evidence base to deliver quality improvement in preconception care, to prevent unplanned pregnancies and abortion, and to mitigate the adverse impacts of unplanned pregnancies. This study is due to report in December 2021.

The Department referred the topic of termination of pregnancy to the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) for the development of a guideline on service delivery of termination of pregnancy. NICE, as part of the planning for this guideline explored the views of stakeholders on what would be most useful to focus on through a workshop, meetings and through a scope consultation. The final scope of the termination of pregnancy guideline was based on the input that NICE received from the stakeholders that engaged with NICE.

The scope of the termination of pregnancy guideline clearly sets out that the NICE guideline is for women who have already decided to have a termination of pregnancy or have undergone a life-saving termination of pregnancy.

NICE is looking at the evidence for common harms such as, haemorrhage and infection where there may be evidence of a difference in long-term outcomes. NICE will also be considering what information women who have requested a termination of pregnancy be given before they have the procedure if the legal grounds are met.

The Department commissioned a multi-professional review of abortion and mental health following a recommendation from the House of Commons Science and Technology Committee in 2007. The report of the evidence-based review, Induced Abortion and Mental Health: A Systematic Review of the Mental Health Outcomes of Induced Abortion, including their prevalence and associated factors, was published in December 2011.

A copy of the review report is available at:

http://www.aomrc.org.uk/publications/reports-guidance/induced-abortion-mental-health-1211/

The methodology which the Department will use to monitor birth ratios will be the same methodology utilised in the May 2014 birth ratio publication. The Department will continue to take into consideration published research including that by Dubuc and Coleman.

This information is set out in the attached table.

The latest data published by the Office for National Statistics in October 2013 shows that very few live births occur before 24 weeks gestation. Infant mortality rates for babies born this early remain extremely high. For babies born in 2011, 1 in 1,000 of live births occurred at less than 24 weeks; the infant mortality rate for these babies was 894.7 deaths per 1,000 live births.

Data from the Epicure series of studies of survival and later health among babies and young people who were born at extremely low gestations found there was no difference in the ongoing illnesses or complications affecting surviving babies born between 22 and 25 weeks gestation in 1995 and 2006. High levels of disability were present at 6 years of age in surviving children born before 24 weeks, including cerebral palsy, low cognitive scores, mobility problems, blindness or profound hearing loss.

The following table shows the most recently available data on the number of live births prior to 24 weeks gestation, and the number of those births that survived until one year of age, in England and Wales. The data for 2007 and 2008 has been combined.

Source: ONS

The Department is carrying out further analysis of data. We do not consider it is in the public interest to disclose details of the countries in question while this analysis is under way as it is not currently possible to conclude that these variations are the result of intervention rather than natural variation. This further analysis will be completed shortly and we will announce our findings.