“Health professionals need to stop turning a blind eye"
Britain’s leading abortion charity has been criticised over guidance campaigners say risks encouraging sex-selective terminations, amid fears they are rising among the country’s Indian women.
The British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS), which carries out around 110,000 abortions a year, states that aborting a baby based on sex is not illegal.
Critics say this directly contradicts government guidance.
Campaigners warned the advice is irresponsible, arguing women in some Indian-origin families face intense pressure to give birth to boys and may be coerced into abortions once a scan reveals a female foetus.
Figures suggest women of Indian origin are likely to have aborted around 400 girls on the basis of sex in the five years up to 2021.
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.”
However, 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 of all abortions in the UK. These are provided through abortion pills sent by post or surgical procedures at its 55 clinics nationwide.
In 2024/25, the charity recorded an income of £64 million. Of that, £63 million came from work commissioned by the NHS.
Dame Jasvinder Sanghera, a long-standing campaigner against forced marriage, 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.”
Rani Bilkhu, founder of Jeena International, which supports 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.”
Catherine Robinson, from 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 said the guidance makes it harder “for women to push back” against pressure to terminate a pregnancy because they are expecting a girl.
She added: “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.”
Department of Health and Social Care figures show women of Indian origin had sex ratios for their first and second child similar to the national average of 105 boys for every 100 girls.
However, by the third child, the ratio rose sharply to 113 boys for every 100 girls, indicating a significant gender imbalance.
A DHSC report said: “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.”
Responding to the criticism, BPAS spokesperson Katie Saxon said:
“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.”
The Department of Health and Social Care added: “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.”
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