Answers to Questions

ABORTION PROCEDURES

213 The Hon. D.G.E. HOOD (25 March 2009) (Fifty-First Parliament, Third Session).

1. Is the Minister for Health aware of any complaints or information regarding children being born alive as the result of a failed abortion procedure within the state within the last 10 years; and

2. If so, what happened to the child or children in question?

The Hon. G.E. GAGO (Minister for Agriculture, Food and Fisheries, Minister for Forests, Minister for Regional Development, Minister for Tourism, Minister for the Status of Women): The Minister for Health and Ageing has been advised:

Failed abortion procedures resulting in continuing pregnancies are rare. Over a 10-year period, the Department for Health and Ageing is aware of five women giving birth to live (full-term) children subsequent to an earlier abortion procedure during the same pregnancy.

The Department for Health and Ageing does not have any further information on these children.