David Cameron has hit out at sex-selective abortion as a “simply appalling practice”, during questions in Parliament.
He was responding to Paul Uppal MP, a British-Asian father of two daughters, who said the “once taboo subject clearly must end”.
Their comments came after concerns about sex-selective abortions were raised by a national newspaper.
Clear
Speaking on Wednesday, Uppal, the MP for Wolverhampton South West, said he wanted the Prime Minster to “call for an end to this most appalling practice”.
“This once taboo subject clearly must end, not just in the UK, but in the world as a whole”, he commented.
The Prime Minister replied: “It is a simply appalling practice, and in areas such as that, such as female genital mutilation and such as forced marriage, we need to be absolutely clear about our values and the messages we send and about these practices being unacceptable.
Responsibilities
“The Government have made clear that abortion on the grounds of gender alone is illegal.
“The chief medical officer wrote to all doctors on 22 November last year reminding them of their responsibilities.”
Mr Cameron added that he was meeting with the Chief Medical Officer and would raise the issue with her.
Investigation
Earlier this year The Independent attributed the ‘disappearance’ of between 1,400 and 4,700 females to sex-selective abortions.
Following the newspaper’s investigation, a British mother told how she had two abortions because her husband did not want girls.
Speaking anonymously, ‘Samira’ – whose parents are Pakistani – said she has had two sex-selective abortions in the UK, once at an NHS clinic and once privately.
Liberalisation
Earlier this month The Christian Institute revealed that the Conservatives have been responsible for the biggest liberalisation of abortion procedures since 1967.
The findings show that former Health Secretary Andrew Lansley told abortion clinics in secret guidance that doctors do not need to see women seeking an abortion.
These new rules effectively “bypassed” Parliament and although the guidance was intended to address the problems of doctors pre-signing forms and sex selection abortions, it did neither, but instead simply relaxed abortion procedures.