Charity criticised for saying sex-selective abortion is not illegal

The British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS), a leading abortion charity which provides abortions for the NHS, has come under criticism from campaigners. On their website, the BPAS claim that sex-selective abortions are not illegal, something which anti-abortion advocates have labelled as “irresponsible”. BPAS provide around 100,000 abortions to women each year, nearly half of the abortions in the UK.

The government’s guidance on the question of sex-selective abortions was issued to doctors in 2014. It states: “Abortion on the grounds of gender alone is illegal. Gender is not itself a lawful ground under the Abortion Act.”

The BPAS website, however, claims that: “The law is silent on the matter. Reason of fetal sex is not a specified ground for abortion within the Abortion Act, but nor is it specifically prohibited. Other reasons for abortion that are widely accepted as ‘good’ reasons – for example, if the woman has been raped – are not specified either.”

Catherine Robinson from Right to Life UK described BPAS’s advice as “irresponsible because it risks normalising sex-selective terminations and is likely encouraging abortions sought purely because of a baby’s sex” and argued that women would find it harder to “push back” against pressure to abort a girl as a result.

The issue of sex-selective abortion is particularly acute for the British Indian community. Figures suggest that women of Indian origin have likely aborted 400 girls in the five years leading up to 2021.

Speaking on this issue, Dame Jasvinder Sanghera said that it was time to “stop turning a blind eye because of cultural sensitivities or the fear of being accused of racism”. The practice of dowry has contributed to the pressure to select boys over girls because “girls immediately become a financial burden” she said, adding that sex-selective abortions were rising “without a shadow of doubt”.

Rani Bilkhu, 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.”