Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what opinion surveys his Department has commissioned on the views of (a) UK taxpayers and (b) people who live in the countries which receive UK aid according to his Department's policy on funding abortions overseas.

The UK Government’s policy on safe abortion takes an evidence-based, public health approach that aims to reduce death and disability caused by unsafe abortions and does not use opinion surveys.

DFID has a range of bilateral and multi-country programmes supporting a package of women’s reproductive and maternal health information and services and only supports provision of safe abortion services as allowed by local laws. In countries where abortion is highly restricted, we can help make the consequences of unsafe abortion more widely understood. We do this by supporting the voices of local women themselves, as they work for their own rights and choices.