Sex-selective Abortion Debate
Full Debate: Read Full DebateDepartment: Department of Health and Social Care
Lord Dobbs
Main Page: Lord Dobbs (Conservative - Life peer)Department Debates - View all Lord Dobbs's debates with the Department of Health and Social Care
(8 years, 11 months ago)
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Lord Prior of Brampton
My Lords, it is a devolved matter for the Northern Ireland Executive and not really for me or for us.
Lord Dobbs (Con)
My Lords, there may not be sufficient evidence for gender-based abortion prosecutions, but there is sufficient evidence, surely, for greater effort to be made about female genital mutilation. Tens of thousands of women in this country have suffered from it yet we still have not had a single successful prosecution. Does he accept that far more needs to be done to deal with this evil?
Lord Prior of Brampton
My Lords, my noble friend makes an important point. Gender-based abortion, female genital mutilation, honour crimes and various other issues still take place in some ethnic communities in England. Across the board, we have to be vigilant about all of these issues and make it clear that they are not acceptable. They are against the law and anyone aware of these practices going on should report them to the police.