Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Sugg on 20 May (HL15585), what methods they used when deciding that there would be 322,000 additional users of the Delivering Sustainable and Equitable Increases in Family Planning in Kenya programme; of those, how many they estimate will use that programme for terminations of pregnancy; from what legislation the policy safe and unsafe abortion derives its mandate and authority to provide support "to increase awareness among policy-makers, legislators, national health authorities and health personnel of the circumstances under which abortion is allowed" in countries where abortion is illegal; and how much has been spent on abortions in each year since that policy was enacted.

DFID Kenya used an internationally respected open-access modelling tool known as ‘Impact2 model’ to estimate the 322,000 additional Family Planning Users to be reached by the programme. This estimate does not include the terminations of pregnancy but covers only users of voluntary modern family planning.

DFID’s legislative authority to provide development assistance comes under the International Development Act (IDA). The policy on safe abortion takes an evidence-based, public health approach that aims to reduce death and disability caused by unsafe abortions. The policy is also consistent with the Cairo Programme of Action, agreed at the 1994 United Nations International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD). The ICPD affirmed that in no case should abortion be promoted as a method of family planning.

In countries where abortion is permitted, we can support development programmes that make safe abortion more accessible. In countries where it is highly restricted and maternal mortality and morbidity are high, we can help make the consequences of unsafe abortion more widely understood and can consider supporting processes of legal and policy reform.

The UK abortion policy can be viewed on GOV.UK.