Abortion

Lord Mawhinney Excerpts

Thursday 6th June 2013 Lords Chamber

[Earl Howe]

My Lords, I am aware of all the initiatives mentioned by the noble Lord. The issue of the sex selection of foetuses is, of course, extremely serious. However, as I mentioned in my earlier Answer, following extensive investigation and analysis we do not believe that there is any evidence that this is happening in the UK. That is the prime reason why we do not agree with the noble Lord that measures should be put in place to collect data regularly on the sex of the aborted foetus. Were we to do that it would require changes to legislation. It would also require changes to clinical practice, and it has ethical implications. I hope the noble Lord will understand that we have thought about this very carefully.

[Lord Mawhinney]

Will my noble friend tell us how many prosecutions have taken place in the last year for terminations that fell outside the Act?

[Earl Howe]

I am not aware of any prosecutions in the last 12 months. The Crown Prosecution Service reviewed the evidence of the pre-signing of HSA1 forms and decided not to take further action against some individuals, but other investigations are continuing.