Gender of baby ‘can be legal ground for abortion’

A doctor agreeing to an abortion on the grounds of gender would be “breaking the law no more and no less” than a doctor performing the procedure on a rape victim, Ann Furedi said.

Mrs Furedi, chief executive of British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS) drew fire and praise from pro-life campaigners who said abortion laws are so wide doctors can virtually justify any reason a woman gives.

In an article, she said a woman wanting a boy rather than a girl “seems” consumerist and unethical. And she hit out telling people they cannot be pro-choice “except when you don’t like the choice”.

Mrs Furedi, writing on the Spiked website, said if doctors decide going through with a pregnancy will damage the expectant mother’s mental health, then abortion is within the law.

She said: “A doctor agreeing to an abortion ‘on grounds of rape’ would be breaking the law no more and no less than a doctor who agrees an abortion on grounds of sex selection.

“While it is true that the sex of the foetus is not a legal ground for abortion, nor is rape, or incest, or being 13 years old.

“None of these is grounds for abortion per se – yet they are all reasons why a doctor may believe a woman has met the legal grounds of abortion.”

Doctors sign a legal document to confirm that their honest belief is continuation of pregnancy is likely to damage the woman’s mental or physical health.

“Sex selection, like rape, may not be a ground for abortion, but there is no legal requirement to deny a woman an abortion if she has a sex preference, providing that the legal grounds are still met,” Mrs Furedi wrote.

“The big difference is this: most people who think of themselves as liberal and modern-thinking believe that rape, incest, youth, poverty or even general ‘unwantedness’ are ‘good reasons’ for doctors to approve abortion; and they think ‘sex selection’ is a bad reason, which should be stopped.

“We either support women’s capacity to decide, or we don’t. You can’t be pro-choice except when you don’t like the choice, because that’s not pro-choice at all.”

Last year there were 185,122 abortions in England and Wales. BPAS carries out more than 55,000 abortions a year as well as counselling women and men.