Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what estimate her Department has made of the proportion of the £1.1 billion which the Government has announced will be spent on family planning over the next five years that will be spent on the provision of abortions.

By helping the world’s poorest women access modern contraception, we will prevent an estimated 6 million unintended pregnancies and 3 million abortions on average each year.

Family planning reduces, but on its own does not eliminate, the backstreet abortions that kill women. So, where this is not against local law, the UK will consider supporting access to safe abortion in the world’s poorest countries. UK aid cannot be used to fund illegal services.