Lord Moylan’s Complications from Abortions (Annual Report) Bill received its Second Reading in the House of Lords this morning.
The Bill passed Second Reading without a division, as is the convention in the Lords, and will now proceed onto Committee Stage.
The Bill proposes a change to the law that would require the Department of Health and Social Care to publish an annual report on medical complications from abortions.
This annual report would include more comprehensive reporting of abortion complications, along the lines of what was published in a Department of Health and Social Care review released in November 2023.
This Government review, which was described as a “one-time analysis”, 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 change to the law would require a similar report to be published each year. The annual report would be required to include data from Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), which are not currently published in the annual abortion statistics complication data reporting.
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Peers line up to support Bill
During the debate Lord Moylan explained that a report last year from the Office for Health Improvement & Disparities found the abortion complication rate was “between 3.5 and 4.4 per thousand in the period 2017 to 2021, depending on the year, somewhat higher than ANS data alone and I understand statistically significant. However, this rose significantly, to about 17, 18 or 19 per thousand if incomplete abortions [with] further complications are included”.
This is because the current system for collating abortion complications does not typically capture data after discharge. “Currently about 85% of abortions are medically induced, that is, by taking a sequence of pills”.
“This shows that the abortion landscape is shifting quite rapidly and clinicians need to have available the most robust data about complications”.
Lord Frost supported the Bill, saying “I find it hard to see personally why we would not want as much information as we could possibly get on this question” since there is “clear evidence for at least a potential anomaly that needs addressing in the statistics. And it’s surely in the interests of any woman considering an abortion to have the best possible information about the possible risks involved”.
Speaking in support of the Bill, Baroness Lawlor explained that she had recently had a “hand procedure for Dupuytren’s disease. In the run-up to the procedure, I wanted to know all the evidence that was available about the condition itself, the treatment, the options, the after-care, and indeed the complications”. She described Lord Moylan’s Bill as a “simple measure” which “will provide a fuller picture for people like myself. But more important, it will strengthen the channels of information for the complications arising from abortion”.
Spokesperson for Right To Life UK, Catherine Robinson, said:
“This Bill is a much-needed step forward in improving transparency around abortion complications. It proposes a common-sense change to policy that MPs and Peers, regardless of where they stand on the issue of abortion, should support”.
“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”.
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