ALMOST 30 per cent of women seeking an early abortion in North Yorkshire are paying for a private operation, new figures have revealed.

A senior MP today claimed the women are being forced to meet the cost themselves because they are being let down by the NHS.

According to figures published by the Department of Health, only 71 per cent of women in North Yorkshire who had a termination in under ten weeks last year had it performed by the health service.

The proportion of early abortions funded by the NHS has fallen from 79 per cent in 1997.

It is lower than many other health authorities, a large number of which carried out more than 80 per cent of terminations of under ten weeks.

Now Sandra Gidley, a member of the Commons health select committee, has attacked the Government's failure to reverse years of Tory underfunding of family planning services.

The Liberal Democrat MP, who obtained the figures in a parliamentary answer, said she was shocked by the massive differences between health authorities.

She stressed the importance of abortion services being available as early as possible in pregnancy, once a woman had taken the decision to have a termination.

Mrs Gidley said: "Most women who decide they want an abortion will go to a family planning clinic to have it performed through the National Health Service."

But she said significant numbers of women of having the operation privately suggested the option was not there.

A Department of Health spokeswoman admitted that abortion services were inadequate in many parts of the country, forcing women to pay for a

termination.

Next year, all primary care trusts (PCTs) will be told they must ensure all women opting for an abortion are offered it within three weeks.

And £1 million has been set aside to help PCTs meet the new standards as part of a wide-ranging sexual health and HIV strategy.

The spokeswoman said: "We do recognise there are wide variations in access to abortion services.

"We are carrying out an audit of waiting times and, later this year, we will publish guidelines outlining good practice for the PCTs."

Updated: 11:33 Wednesday, September 04, 2002