Probe uncovers illegal ‘sex-selection’ abortions

U.K. clinicians falsifying papers, the investigation shows

LONDON —Women are being granted illegal abortions by doctors in Britain based on the sex of their unborn baby, an undercover investigation by the Daily Telegraph shows.

Doctors at clinics have been secretly filmed agreeing to terminate fetuses 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.

Health Secretary Andrew Lansley said 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,” he said.

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 newspaper carried out an investigation into sex-selection abortions after concerns were raised that 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 National Health Service hospitals in Manchester, was filmed telling a pregnant woman who said she wanted to abort a female fetus: “I don’t ask questions. If you want a termination, you want a termination.”

She later phoned a colleague to book the procedure, explaining that it was for “social reasons” and the woman “doesn’t want questions asked.”

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 pounds or 300 pounds ($313 to $470), on top of the 785 pounds ($1,200) 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.