London, February 25: Women are being granted illegal abortions by doctors in Britain based on the sex of their unborn baby, an undercover investigation by The Daily Telegraphcan disclose.
Doctors at the country's clinics have been secretly filmed agreeing to terminate foetuses purely because they are either male or female.
Clinicians admitted they were prepared to falsify paperwork to arrange the abortions even though it is illegal to conduct such "sex-selection" procedures.
Andrew Lansley, the Health Secretary, said on Wednesday: "I'm extremely concerned to hear about these allegations. Sex selection is illegal and is morally wrong. I've asked my officials to investigate this as a matter of urgency."
The disclosures will add to growing concerns about the regulation of abortion clinics and the apparent ability of women to secure terminations "on demand".
The Daily Telegraph carried out an investigation into sex-selection abortions after concerns were raised the procedures were becoming increasingly common for cultural and social reasons.
Acting on specific information, undercover reporters accompanied pregnant women to nine clinics in different parts of the country. In three instances doctors were recorded offering to arrange terminations after being told the mother-to-be did not want to go ahead with the pregnancy because of the sex of the unborn child.
One consultant, Prabha Sivaraman, who works for both private clinics and NHS hospitals in Manchester, was filmed telling a pregnant woman who said she wanted to abort a female foetus: "I don't ask questions. If you want a termination, you want a termination."
She later telephoned a colleague to book the procedure, explaining that it was for "social reasons" and the woman "doesn't want questions asked".
She said to her colleague: "This [the termination] will be under private, she doesn't want to go through NHS. OK, so — that's right, because you're part of our team and she doesn't want questions asked."
Family balancing
Sivaraman, who works for Pall Mall Medical in Manchester and is an obstetrician and gynaecologist at North Manchester General Hospital, said the cost of the termination would be £200 (Dh1,152) or £300, on top of the £500 already paid to the clinic for the consultation. After taking the woman's contact details, Sivaraman asked her if she had considered her options. "Oh, absolutely I can't have it, this baby, because of the gender, so that's just how it is," replied the woman.
The doctor booked the pregnant woman in for a termination the following week despite the reason for the abortion being clearly explained.
Last year, the Council of Europe recommended member states, including Britain, stop telling parents the gender of their baby because of concerns this was encouraging sex-selection abortions. Most hospitals have stopped giving parents this information. However, blood tests that disclose the sex of a foetus are widely available on the internet or abroad.
An undercover reporter calling an abortion advice line was also told private clinics would be able to offer a scan — for a fee. Abortions for non-medical reasons are legal until 24 weeks, but terminations on grounds of sex of the foetus are illegal under the 1967 Abortion Act.
Sex selection claims
The British government on Thursday vowed to investigate newspaper reports that doctors illegally approved abortions that were requested due to the sex of the unborn child.
The Daily Telegraph claimed it had hidden camera footage which showed doctors at British clinics offering to falsify paperwork in order to allow women to have terminations based on gender.
Health Secretary Andrew Lansley said he was "extremely concerned" by the allegations. "Sex selection is illegal and is morally wrong," he said. "I've asked my officials to investigate this as a matter of urgency."
According to the Telegraph, undercover reporters accompanied pregnant woman to nine different clinics across the country. Doctors at three out of the nine clinics agreed to arrange terminations even though the woman claimed she did not want the baby due to its sex, the paper claimed.
Abortions in Britain are allowed in limited circumstances, including when the pregnancy presents a serious mental or physical health risk to the mother and if there is a high chance the child would have severe disabilities.
Comments
Add new comment