UK introduces bill mandating annual reports to accurately track abortion complications

A bill requiring the government to produce annual reports on abortion complications in England has been introduced in the House of Lords. Conservative Lord Moylan stated that the bill aims to improve the collection of abortion complications data to provide better information for policymaking.

According to a review by the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID), 2017–2021 data showed the Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) reported a complication rate of 4.06 per 1,000 abortions, while the Abortion Notification System (ANS) reported 1.52. The higher rate reported by HES compared to ANS is understood to be due to the rarity of abortion providers recording complications in women who were discharged after the procedure.

The group Right To Life UK highlighted the need for improved transparency, citing the possibility that official statistics on abortion complications may be underestimated compared to reality.