Britain’s leading abortion charity has been criticised for encouraging ‘sex-selective’ terminations – amid fears these are on the rise among the country’s Indian women.
The British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS), which carries out 110,000 terminations a year, suggests that aborting a baby on the basis of sex is not illegal – despite Government advice explicitly stating it is against the law.
Furious campaigners called the advice ‘irresponsible’ and pointed out that many pregnant British-Indian women are under huge pressure to have boys, and may be coerced into having an abortion as soon as a scan reveals a female foetus.
Women of Indian origin are likely to have aborted 400 girls on the basis of their sex in the five years up to 2021, the latest figures reveal.
But Department of Health guidance issued to doctors in 2014 states: ‘Abortion on the grounds of gender alone is illegal. Gender is not itself a lawful ground under the Abortion Act.’
But the BPAS website says: ‘The law is silent on the matter. Reason of foetal sex is not a specified ground for abortion within the Abortion Act, but nor is it specifically prohibited.’
BPAS carries out almost half the abortions in the UK, through drugs it sends by post or surgical procedures at its 55 clinics nationwide. For 2024/25, the charity netted an income of £64 million – of which £63 million came from its work for the NHS.
Dame Jasvinder Sanghera, a campaigner against forced marriages, said: ‘Without a shadow of a doubt, sex-selective abortions are going on. There are many reasons. There is still the practice of dowry, which means girls immediately become a financial burden.
‘Health professionals need to stop turning a blind eye because of cultural sensitivities or the fear of being accused of racism.’
Britain’s leading abortion charity has been criticised for encouraging ‘sex-selective’ terminations. Pictured: An ultrasound of a baby in a womb
Khadija Khan is a journalist and broadcaster who says aborting a baby based on gender is ‘a repugnant practice’
Rani Bilkhu, the founder of Jeena International, a charity for Asian victims of domestic violence, said: ‘The authorities are reluctant to talk about this issue, because they feel it might be based on racism, but it isn’t.
‘This is lived experience from our communities, and we need to talk about it.’
Senior Tory peer Baroness Eaton said: ‘This is a great tragedy to which society must not turn a blind eye. Parliament needs to change the law to ensure there is an explicit prohibition on sex-selective abortions, protecting both baby girls and women at risk of being coerced into abortions.’
Catherine Robinson, of pro-life campaign group Right To Life, said: ‘It’s irresponsible for BPAS to publish advice suggesting that sex-selective abortion is not illegal, because it risks normalising sex-selective abortion and is likely encouraging abortions sought purely because of a baby’s sex.’
Ms Robinson added that BPAS’s advice makes it harder ‘for women to push back’ against pressure to have an abortion simply because they are expecting a girl.
‘Women trying to resist by pointing out sex-selective abortion is unlawful may be met with the response from coercive third parties that the UK’s largest abortion provider says it is not illegal.’
The latest Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) figures show that women of Indian origin had a sex ratio for their first and second child that was similar to the national average of 105 boys to 100 girls.
But on the birth of the third child, there was significant gender imbalance, where the ratio jumped to 113 boys to 100 girls.
The DHSC report says: ‘It is estimated that approximately 400 sex-selective abortions may have taken place to female foetuses over the five-year period from 2017 to 2021.’
Ms Bilkhu said: ‘There is a lot of burden on the woman to give birth to a male, even more so if she has given birth to one or two girls. Pressure is imposed by the in-laws and the husband.
‘And it’s regardless of whether they are first-generation or second-generation immigrants, or educated or not.’
Katie Saxon, a spokesman for BPAS, said last night: ‘As our website correctly states, foetal sex is not mentioned in abortion law in the UK.
‘The reasons women may seek abortion care are diverse and complex, and our experience caring for more than 100,000 women every year is that it is vanishingly rare for any woman to seek an abortion on the grounds of foetal sex.
‘However, as the DHSC itself recognises, there are instances – such as serious health conditions specific to one sex – where foetal sex may form a part of both women’s and doctors’ decision-making.’
DHSC said in a statement: ‘This Government’s position is unequivocal: sex-selective abortion isillegal in England and Wales and will not be tolerated.
‘Sex is not a lawful ground for termination of pregnancy, and it is a criminal offence for any practitioner to carry out an abortion for that reason alone.
‘Anyone with evidence that this illegal practice is occurring must report it to the police immediately.’
Additional reporting: Claudia Joseph
