Asked by: Lord Jackson of Peterborough (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the percentage of abortions in which women (1) deliberately, and (2) accidentally, misreport the date of their last menstrual period; and how they have incorporated that estimate into the implementation of allowing the prescription of abortion pills by telemedicine.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department collects information on abortions via the HSA4 abortion notification form, which does not hold this information.
The prescription of mifepristone and misoprostol for abortions is controlled by the Abortion Act 1967 and Human Medicines Regulations 2012. During the consultation, women are informed that their abortion medication has been prescribed for their use only and that it cannot be given to anyone else. In line with the Department’s required standard operating procedures for the approval of independent sector places for termination of pregnancy in England, all providers must ensure women are given information about how to dispose of, or return, the abortion pills if they are not used.
Before an early medical abortion can be undertaken at home, women are given the choice to have either an in-person consultation or a virtual consultation. However, if there is any uncertainty about the gestation of the pregnancy, the medical practitioner would ask the woman to attend an in-person appointment to enable them to form an opinion that the pregnancy will not have exceeded ten weeks at the time the first abortion pill is taken.
Asked by: Lord Jackson of Peterborough (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities report on complications from abortions in England 2017 to 2021, published on 23 November 2023, whether they have conducted further research on the impact of using data from Hospital Episode Statistics on reported abortion complication rates; and how this compares with using figures from the Abortion Notification System.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department has not undertaken any further research or analysis on the impact of using data from Hospital Episode Statistics compared with the Abortion Notification System since the report into the comparison of complication rates using these data sources was published in 2023.
The Department has not committed to updating or repeating this analysis and the publication will remain as a one‑off report until further notice.
Asked by: Lord Jackson of Peterborough (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the difference between the number of abortion pills prescribed via telemedicine and the number actually taken; and what assessment they have made of the extent to which abortion pills prescribed via telemedicine are being stockpiled by women.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department collects information on abortions via the HSA4 abortion notification form, which does not hold this information.
The prescription of mifepristone and misoprostol for abortions is controlled by the Abortion Act 1967 and Human Medicines Regulations 2012. During the consultation, women are informed that their abortion medication has been prescribed for their use only and that it cannot be given to anyone else. In line with the Department’s required standard operating procedures for the approval of independent sector places for termination of pregnancy in England, all providers must ensure women are given information about how to dispose of, or return, the abortion pills if they are not used.
Asked by: Lord Jackson of Peterborough (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of (1) the estimated number of miscarriages, (2) the estimated number of stillbirths, (3) the number of police investigations relating to miscarriages, and (4) the number of police investigations relating to stillbirths, for each of the last 10 years for which data are available.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Research estimates that 15.3% of recognised pregnancies end in miscarriage, a pregnancy loss before 24 weeks completed gestation, which is the equivalent to approximately 100,000 miscarriages in England each year. However, due to lack of data on the earliest losses, the true figure could be higher.
Mothers and Babies: Reducing Risk through Audits and Confidential Enquiries across the UK (MBRRACE-UK) perinatal mortality surveillance reports the number of stillbirths, babies delivered at or after 24 completed weeks’ gestational age showing no signs of life, irrespective of when the death occurred, and excluding terminations of pregnancy. The following table shows stillbirth numbers in England from 2014 to 2023 inclusive:
Year | Stillbirths |
2014 | 2,789 |
2015 | 2,621 |
2016 | 2,611 |
2017 | 2,389 |
2018 | 2,210 |
2019 | 2,040 |
2020 | 1,939 |
2021 | 2,106 |
2022 | 1,928 |
2023 | 1,847 |
The Home Office does not collect information centrally on police investigations into miscarriages or stillbirths. However, the Home Office does collect and publish figures on the number of criminal offences of ‘procuring illegal abortion’ and ‘intentional destruction of a viable unborn child’ recorded by police in England and Wales. However, it is neither possible to identify what prompted an investigation that led to a crime being recorded, nor the number of investigations that resulted in a decision not to record a crime.
Asked by: Lord Jackson of Peterborough (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Merron on 25 November (HL11903), when they expect to publish data on abortions for the years 2023 and 2024.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Publication of the 2023 abortion statistics has been pre-announced for 15 January 2026 and will be published on the GOV.UK website.
We will announce the exact date for publication of the 2024 abortion statistics in due course.
Asked by: Lord Jackson of Peterborough (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the answer by Baroness Merron on 12 November (HL Deb col 252), what specific reasons she has for saying that "the evidence base for telemedical medicine is sound".
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Abortions are generally very safe, and most women will not experience any complications. The evidence-base for home use of early medical abortion pills has been assessed by leading statutory and professional organisations and it is recognised to be a safe procedure in evidence-based guidance, including the World Health Organisation’s abortion care guideline, the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists 2022 report on best practice in abortion care, and the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s clinical guidelines on abortion care.
The Abortion Notification System (ANS) collects information on complications that occur up until the time of discharge for all abortions, and where the medicine was administered for medical abortions. Since 2015, there has been a marginal downward trend in complication rates reported in the ANS. In 2022, complications were reported in only 0.12% of abortions.
The Department continues to work with NHS England, the Care Quality Commission, and abortion providers to ensure that women have safe and timely access to abortion services as decided by Parliament.
Asked by: Lord Jackson of Peterborough (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they intend to publish an updated version of the Department for Health and Social Care guidance on completing the EMA1 abortion form or similar certificate to reflect any potential uncertainty in the opinion of the medical practitioner as to the patients’ gestation period where an in-person consultation has not taken place.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department keeps guidance on completing the EMA1 abortion form under review. There are currently no plans to update the guidance.
The medical practitioner terminating the pregnancy is required to form an opinion in good faith that the gestation of the pregnancy will be below 10 weeks at the time the first pill is taken. This opinion can be formed either during a teleconsultation, or an in-person appointment.
Pregnancy duration can be assessed from the first day of the last menstrual period (LMP). Advice from the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists is clear that most women can determine the duration of their pregnancy with reasonable accuracy by LMP alone.
However, if there is any uncertainty about the gestation of the pregnancy, the medical practitioner would ask the woman to attend an in-person appointment to enable them to form an opinion that the pregnancy will not have exceeded 10 weeks at the time the first abortion pill is taken. If she does not attend in-person when requested, the terminating practitioner would not be able to form an opinion in good faith that the pregnancy is below 10 weeks gestation, and therefore would not be able to prescribe abortion pills for home use.
Asked by: Lord Jackson of Peterborough (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the answer by Baroness Merron on 12 November (HL Deb col 254), what was the specific evidence base for saying that "The data available does not point to concerns about the provision of telemedicine".
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Abortions are generally very safe, and most women will not experience any complications. The evidence-base for home use of early medical abortion pills has been assessed by leading statutory and professional organisations and it is recognised to be a safe procedure in evidence-based guidance, including the World Health Organisation’s abortion care guideline, the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists 2022 report on best practice in abortion care, and the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s clinical guidelines on abortion care.
The Abortion Notification System (ANS) collects information on complications that occur up until the time of discharge for all abortions, and where the medicine was administered for medical abortions. Since 2015, there has been a marginal downward trend in complication rates reported in the ANS. In 2022, complications were reported in only 0.12% of abortions.
The Department continues to work with NHS England, the Care Quality Commission, and abortion providers to ensure that women have safe and timely access to abortion services as decided by Parliament.
Asked by: Lord Jackson of Peterborough (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government how not collecting data, through the Abortion Notification System and hospital episode statistics, on complications arising from at-home medical abortions after the patient’s discharge from the care of the abortion service accords with the commitment to collect empirical data to improve women’s health outcomes outlined in the Women’s Health Strategy for England.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Women’s Health Strategy sets out our ambitions to make better use of data already collected, and to address gaps in women’s health data to improve women’s health outcomes.
The Department routinely publishes data on abortion complications reported via the Abortion Notification System (ANS). The ANS collects information on complications that occur up until the time of discharge for all abortions, and where the medicine was administered for medical abortions.
The Department has published a one-time analysis exploring whether Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) can be used as a supplementary source for data on abortion complications. The HES data in the publication includes abortion complications arising from any abortion which resulted in an inpatient admission. The publication found that abortion complications are recorded differently in HES compared to the ANS and there are different strengths and limitations associated with using either data source. The Department has no plans to publish a separate annual report on abortion complications.
Asked by: Lord Jackson of Peterborough (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they intend to publish abortion statistics in England and Wales for (1) 2023, and (2) 2024; if so, when; and, if not, why not.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department does intend to publish abortion statistics in England and Wales for 2023 and 2024. The publication dates for these statistics have not yet been announced.
Publication of the 2023 statistics is provisionally planned for winter 2025/26. We will announce the exact dates for publication of the 2023 and, later, 2024 data in due course.
The statistics have been delayed due to several operational issues. These include issues associated with moving to a new data processing system and an increase in the number of paper abortion notification forms to process.