Written Question · S1W-33580 · Session 1
Further to the answer to question S1W-32863 by Mrs Mary Mulligan on 16 January 2003, why information on abortions performed in order to sav…
The question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-32863 by Mrs Mary Mulligan on 16 January 2003, why information on abortions performed in order to save the life of the woman is only available from 1991, given that recording the grounds on which an abortion is being carried out has been required since the Abortion Act 1967 came into force.
The answer
Until 1990, all emergency abortions were recorded together, making it impossible to distinguish between those carried out to save the lives of the women and those carried out to prevent grave permanent injury to their health. The grounds for legal abortion set out in the Abortion Act 1967 were amended by the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990. This made it necessary to amend the regulations governing the content of the notification form, and a separate category for abortions carried out to save the woman's life was then introduced.
In the Official Report
No contribution in the Official Report cites S1W-33580 by reference.