PRESS RELEASE – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Press release – Bills on abortion complications reporting and support for infants and parents information to be introduced to House of Lords
19 July 2024 – Two important Private Members’ Bills will be introduced to the House of Lords after they were drawn in a ballot this morning.
Lord Farmer’s Support for Infants and Parents etc (Information) Bill will be introduced to the House of Lords after it was drawn in first place in the House of Lords Private Members’ Bill ballot and will receive a First Reading on Friday 26 July.
Lord Moylan’s Complications from Abortions (Annual Report) Bill was drawn at number ten and will receive a First Reading on Tuesday 3 September 2024.
A Bill to introduce assisted suicide was also drawn from the ballot.
Lord Falconer’s Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults Bill was drawn in second place and will receive a First Reading on Friday 26 July.
There were no pro-abortion bills drawn in the ballot.
How House of Lords Private Members’ Bills work
At the beginning of each session of Parliament, two days after the State Opening of Parliament, a ballot is held to allocate the order in which the first 25 Private Members’ Bills will be introduced in the House of Lords. Usually, a large number of Peers enter the ballot, providing a short and long title of their bill for the Legislation Office. The order of the ballot determines the order in which the bills receive their First Reading in the House.
Private Members’ Bills in the Lords do not generally get enough time allocated to progress through all stages in the House of Lords, but if they do, they can then be supported by an MP and continue in the Commons.
In the Commons, Lords Private Members’ Bills do not have priority over bills introduced in the Commons, so unless the Government chooses to give them time, they rarely become law.
Peers usually use Private Members’ Bills as an opportunity to raise the profile of an important issue by having it debated in the Lords, and the campaigning and media opportunities that come with that can help them further raise the profile of that issue.
Following the profile-raising of the issue and the momentum for reform that is generated through introducing the bill in the House of Lords, a law change can then be introduced at a later date through another mechanism such as a Private Members’ Bill in the Commons or an amendment to a Government Bill.
Peers will be finalising the contents of their Bills with the Public Bill Office, so only the title of each Bill is currently available. In the meantime, we have provided background information on the current gaps in abortion complication reporting and the strong case for making major changes to reporting.
Government review shows abortion complication rates likely much higher than being reported by abortion providers
A Government review published in November 2023 revealed that abortion complication rates are likely much higher than has been previously reported in the annual abortion statistics, which are based on reporting from abortion providers.
The review, undertaken by the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID), analysed Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) for England from the years 2017 to 2021. They compared the complication rate derived from this analysis to the currently reported complications rate derived from the Abortion Notification System (ANS) based on data provided by abortion providers, which are reported in the annual abortion statistics.
The review found the ANS-derived data shows an average complication rate over the 5 years from 2017-2021 of 1.52 per 1,000 abortions whereas their analysis of HES data over the same period showed a complication rate of 4.06, over 2.6 times higher than the ANS data that is reported in the annual abortion statistics.
When their HES data analysis also included incomplete abortions, the complication rate over the same period was 18.16, which is over 11.9 times higher than the ANS-derived complication rate that does not include incomplete abortions.
The difference in reported complications rate was much higher for women under 20 than for the general population. For women under 20, the HES-derived complication rate was 4.43 times higher than the ANS-derived complication rate, compared to 2.67 times higher for the general population. When the HES data analysis also included incomplete abortion, for under 20s the HES-derived complication rate was 17.43 times higher than the ANS-derived complication rate, compared to 11.95 times for the general population.
The review also identified that abortion providers were not recording complications that happened after discharge or after the form that they were recorded on was sent to the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC). The OHID noted that there was “no evidence” when the review was undertaken in 2022 that abortion providers were informing the (DHSC) to ensure the data was updated when a woman informed the abortion provider about a complication that occurred after the form had been sent.
The review also noted that complications may be less likely to be recorded for terminations where either both or one of the abortion medications is administered at home, because it is unlikely that the person filling in the HSA4 form will know if the woman experienced a complication following an abortion.
Better information on support for infants and parents
In the last Parliament, former MP Sally-Ann Hart introduced the Support for Infants and Parents etc (Information) Bill.
Unfortunately, the bill did not have enough time to become law during that last parliamentary session.
Sally Ann-Hart said that she brought forward the Bill to support a baby’s cognitive, emotional and physical development during the 1,001 critical days from pregnancy up to the age of two, by making information on support available easier to access.
The Bill required local authorities to publish a Start for Life offer on their website, which would include information about a number of services that a local authority is aware are available in its area for infants, parents or carers of infants or prospective parents or carers.
The proposed piece of legislation also required the Government to publish an annual report that sets out information about support that is being provided in England for infants and their parents or carers, or prospective parents or carers.
Responding to Lord Moylan’s Complications from Abortions (Annual Report) Bill and Lord Farmer’s Support for Infants and Parents etc (Information) Bill being drawn in the ballot, Catherine Robinson, spokesperson for Right To Life UK, said:
“A Government review published last year revealed that abortion complication rates are likely much higher than has been previously reported in the annual abortion statistics, which are based on reporting from abortion providers”.
“The new Government needs to urgently introduce measures to ensure that abortion complications data is accurately collected and reliably reported on”.
“Lord Moylan’s Complications from Abortions (Annual Report) Bill has been drawn in the House of Lords Private Members Bill ballot”.
“While it is rare for Lords Private Members’ Bills to become law, this Bill will ensure that the issue of complication rate underreporting is put on the radar and debated extensively in Parliament, the media and wider society. This will help raise the profile of this major issue and put pressure on the Government to ensure that abortion complications data is accurately collected and reliably reported on”.
“We also welcome the introduction of Lord Farmer’s Support for Infants and Parents etc (Information) Bill. There are many vital support services available for parents in the community but parents are not always aware of these services. Increasing awareness of these services will ensure that more pregnant women and new mothers have access to them. This will be especially helpful for women facing unplanned pregnancies who would be less likely to proceed with an abortion if they were aware of these support services”.
“It’s great to see that no pro-abortion bills were drawn in the ballot. While this is a positive development, there is still the serious risk that pro-abortion MPs, backed by the abortion lobby, will try to hijack a Government Bill during this parliamentary session and force through a major change to our abortion laws that would allow abortion up to birth”.
Responding to Lord Falconer’s Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults Bill being drawn in the ballot, Catherine Robinson, spokesperson for Right To Life UK, said:
“There is currently a major gap in the provision of palliative care services in the United Kingdom. It is estimated that over 100,000 people who need palliative care die each year without receiving it”.
“The UK needs properly funded high-quality palliative care for those at the end of their life, not assisted suicide”.
ENDS
- For additional quotes and media interviews contact 07774 483 658 or email press@righttolife.org.uk
- For further information on Right To Life UK visit www.righttolife.org.uk