Overview
- The Department of Health and Social Care states that terminating a pregnancy solely due to foetal sex is illegal in England and Wales and a criminal offence for practitioners.
- BPAS’s website says the Abortion Act does not mention foetal sex and describes the law as “silent,” a stance critics call irresponsible.
- Campaigners and some politicians argue the guidance could expose British Indian women to coercion and urge explicit legal prohibition and stronger enforcement.
- DHSC data show the sex ratio for third births among women of Indian origin at 113 boys to 100 girls, underpinning its estimate of roughly 400 possible cases from 2017–2021.
- BPAS says such requests are vanishingly rare in its experience and notes it provides over 100,000 abortions annually, largely funded by the NHS.