By REENA KUMAR
DOCTORS who allow women to terminate a pregnancy based on the sex of their child
should be suspended, the deputy chair of the British Medical Association (BMA) has said.
Among Asians, some women in the UK are often pressured by their families to undergo
an abortion if they are carrying a baby girl because of the traditional preference for
a boy who will carry on the family name.Findings from the 2011 census revealed that between 1,400
and 4,700 fewer girls had been born recently, which highlighted the shocking fact that termination
of girl babies was taking place despite it being against the law in Britain.
Dr Kailash Chand, from the BMA – which leads debates on key health issues – told EE
that although gender-based abortion was illegal, the law needed to be reformed.
This is because it contains a loophole enabling women to argue that they are seeking a termination on
grounds other than because of the sex of their baby, Dr Chand said.
However, the current BMA guidance states that termination on the grounds of the gender of the foetus
may be lawful in some circumstances.
Jasvinder Sanghera, chief executive of Karma Nirvana, a charity which supports victims of honour crimes
and forced marriages,has urged the implementation of a blanket ban, preventing professionals from
revealing the gender of a child before a woman reaches the 24th week of pregnancy.In certain areas
of the country, such as Rotherham, this practice is in already in place. Under UK law, an abortion can only
be carried out during the first 24 weeks if two doctors agree that it would cause less
damage to a woman’s physical or mentalhealth than her having the baby.
After 24 weeks, terminations can be granted in extreme circumstances. Dr Chand told Eastern Eye: “It’s shameful,
there’s no doubt that the clarity in the Abortion
Act needs to be reformed.
“There has got to be clarity that ending a pregnancy based on the basis of gender is totally illegal, and
professionals who carry this out will be punished and their licence should be suspended.
“The pressure on women is essentially from the family, by and large the poor girls are helpless, they are forced
into it. It’s an absolute shame that in this day and age,gender-based abortions happen in a socalled
developed world.”
Dinesh Bhugra, professor of mentalhealth and cultural diversity at the Institute of Psychiatry, said it was
essential for the practice to be stopped. He noted it often resulted in women suffering from mental health
issues and low self worth.
Last Wednesday (13), health minister Lord Earl Howe told the House of Lords that the Department of
Health (DoH) was in discussions with the General Medical Council and other bodies with a view to publishing
further guidance to doctors.
However, the DoH did not respond to questions from Eastern Eye about details of the new guidance.
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) last year decided not to prosecute two doctors who agreed to arrange
illegal abortions based on the sex of an unborn baby because it wasn’t in “the public interest.”
