Abortion notification forms for England and Wales
Guidance and forms (HSA1, EMA1, HSA2 and HSA4) for recording information about abortions in England and Wales.
Applies to England and Wales
Documents
Details
Under the terms of the Abortion Act 1967, as amended by the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990, only a registered practitioner can terminate a pregnancy.
Practitioners taking responsibility for the procedure must fill in the notification forms on this page.
Grounds for carrying out an abortion
Form HSA1 and form HSA2 are paper forms. Form HSA1 is for practitioners to certify their opinion on the grounds for an abortion. Form HSA2 is for emergency abortions.
Recording practitioners’ good faith opinion
Form EMA1 or a similar certificate must be completed to record the registered practitioners’ good faith opinion that the pregnancy will not exceed 10 weeks at the time when the first pill (mifepristone) is taken if either of the following apply:
- the prescription for early medical abortion pills is signed at the registered medical practitioners’ usual place of residence
- where the pills are to be self-administered by the pregnant woman at her usual place of residence
Informing the Chief Medical Officer (CMO) of an abortion
Practitioners must notify the CMO of an abortion using form HSA4. You can:
- order printed copies of HSA4 by completing the online order form
- fill in the form online
To fill in the form online, you’ll need a password from the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC):
- email: hsa4@dhsc.gov.uk
- telephone: 020 7972 5541
As abortion is an emotive subject, and to reduce risk to our staff, we do not give a named contact.
Guidance on filling in the forms
This page also contains guidance notes on filling in each of the forms.
Abortion statistics
The DHSC has a responsibility to monitor the Abortion Act and to publish statistics on abortions in England and Wales. We have processes for checking and monitoring the HSA4 forms that inform statistics.
Updates to this page
Last updated 1 May 2024 + show all updates
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Replaced 'Sample form HSA4: abortion notification' with 'Form HSA4: abortion notification - summary of the information collected'.
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Updated guidance notes for completing HSA4 paper and electronic abortion forms to reflect additional information that now must be provided in relation to the use of medicines at home for early medical abortion, following the amendment to the abortion legislation.
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In ‘Guidance note for completing the EMA1 abortion form’ we've updated the content to make it clear that ‘practitioner’ means registered medical practitioner.
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Added Form EMA1: Certificate C and accompanying guidance note on completing the form. Form EMA1 must be completed to record practitioners’ good faith opinion that the pregnancy will not exceed 10 weeks at the time when the first pill (mifepristone) is taken if either the prescription for early medical abortion pills is signed at the practitioners’ usual place of residence, or where the pills are to be self-administered by the pregnant woman at her usual place of residence.
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Updated 'Guidance notes for completing HSA4 electronic forms' and 'Update to Abortion Notification System' following launch of new abortion notification system.
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'Update to Abortion Notification System' updated with information on the new launch date of 27 June 2022.
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Update the 'Update to Abortion Notification System' to reflect the new Abortion Notification System launch has been postponed.
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Added new information to 'Update to Abortion Notification System', including when the current system will shut down, when the new system will go live, and what users need to do to access it.
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Added link to new order form for requesting printed copies of the HSA4 abortion notification form.
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Added new attachment: 'Update to Abortion Notification System'.
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Updated telephone number to get a password from the Department of Health and Social Care to 020 7972 5541.
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The 3 attachments 'Guidance note for completing HSA4 paper forms', 'Summary guidance note for completing HSA4 electronic forms' and 'Detailed guidance note for completing HSA4 electronic forms' have been replaced by 2 new attachments: 'Guidance note for completing HSA4 paper forms' and 'Guidance note for completing HSA4 electronic forms'. The new attachments contain updates to information such as email addresses.
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Updated the email address and phone number for getting a password to complete form HSA4 online.
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Added number to call to order HSA4 form
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First published.