Illegal Abortions Based Solely On Gender.

[anotheoldgit]

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/the-lost-girls-illegal-abortion-widely-used-by-some-uk-ethnic-groups-to-avoid-daughters-has-reduced-female-population-by-between-1500-and-4700-9059790.html

Why the discrepancies, could it be that there is something being covered up for some reason?

/// A government investigation last year found no evidence that women living in the UK, but born abroad, were preferentially aborting girls. ///

/// However, our deeper statistical analysis of data from the 2011 National Census has shown widespread discrepancies in the sex ratio of children in some immigrant families, which can only be easily explained by women choosing to abort female foetuses in the hope of becoming quickly pregnant again with a boy. ///

/// The findings will reignite the debate over whether pregnant women should be legally allowed to know the sex of their babies following ultrasound scans at 13 weeks..///

[emmie]

slaney, if so then there has to be tighter rules - you have to have two doctors in agreement before it's considered... and then counselling, or did once upon a time.

[sandyRoe]

Did Dominic Grieve ever explain why no action was taken against doctors suspected of performing such abortions?

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/10359057/Dominic-Grieve-under-pressure-to-explain-CPS-decision-not-to-prosecute-over-gender-selection-abortion-scandal.html

[ummmm]

Emmie...you still have to have two doctors in agreement. I suppose the counseling would depend upon those reasons.

[slaney]

emmie - I'm not sure how tighter rules would help here.
The doctors would not know anything about the blood test as it would not be on record anywhere, and the abortion could be requested on any other number of legitimate grounds.

[emmie]

then this gender selection will continue, wrong and wrong.

[emmie]

sandy, this is appalling really

The Telegraph’s probe prompted a 19 month investigation. However prosecutors told the doctors that they will not be charged even though there was enough evidence, because it did not consider the issue to be in the public interest.

[slaney]

Sandy ..
http://www.cps.gov.uk/news/latest_news/dpp_abortion_case_fuller_reasons/

[emmie]

i read through the piece and still unclear, it's a case of sometimes we do it because we are asked, and sometimes because the woman says she will be at risk. a legal, lethal minefield.

[slaney]

Emmie, I have no evidence that this is happening, it's just a possibility, as it is easy to find such DNA testing offered on the internet.

I think I would like to check the statistical evidence first before coming to any conclusion.

[emmie]

its obvious it happens, how often is under debate, but abortion based entirely gender shouldn't be allowed surely. If the child is not going to survive, or has such atrocious life threatening illness, or will have absolutely no quality of life if it comes to full term i could perhaps understand but as we have seen with China, and many nations, girls aren't wanted, boys will work and support families, this is abject cruelty and has caused imbalances in populations.

[tamborine]

Staff are from various ethnicity and sympathetic to patients demands & culture. Maybe fathers demand female foetus abortions?

Some cultures are like throwing a pebble in a lake; the ripples spread!

[LazyGun]

If we are talking about gender -based abortions here in the UK, I think the evidence is still equivocal. It certainly happens elsewhere in the world, most especially in China where the stats are massively skewed toward male babies, but the Independents analysis, whilst indicative, is not proof-positive - as they themselves point out in the article, there could be other reasons why they are seeing the figures they are.

But I think Slaney has it about right - couples wishing for a male baby may well avail themselves of new technology DNA testing, and then apply for an abortion on other grounds.

As to stopping it - I would agree that the practice should be firmly discouraged, but the actual practicality requires some thought.

The recent case where the CPS decided not to prosecute 2 doctors implicated in gender-selective abortions illustrates the difficulty.

http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/health-news/decision-not-to-charge-two-doctors-over-genderbased-abortions-was-right-dpp-keir-starmer-says-8864400.html

[Eve]

And who is to say how many of the doctors even know what the real reason is.

I'm sure if abortions can be procured illegally, ultrasound scans to find out the sex of the baby outside of the NHS are feasible too if NHS trusts do not tell the sex of a baby.

Unfortunately it seems almost impossible to "police".

[pixie373]

You can find out the sex of a foetus at a 20 week scan and abortions given after that time, i think, are for specific reasons, so i imagine they are mostly done illegally anyway? The sex is not recorded either, so it's very difficult to prove.

[Brenden]

emmie, in answer to your question of where will their sons find wives, Pakistan of course, its where most of them select their brides or grooms.