The Metro has published a first-person account of a woman who recalls her mum telling her, when she was just three years old, that she was a “failed abortion”.
The anonymous contributor recounts that one of her first memories is of her mum explaining to her that she had been to the doctor to request an abortion. The doctor refused because of her mum’s state of mental health.
The contributor’s mum disclosed that she had wanted an abortion because she was having a girl. Her daughter, hearing this when she was just three years old, said this was the first memory she had of her mum’s abusive behaviour towards her.
Now a mum herself, the contributor is happy and has vowed that “I would never allow [my children] to go through what I had to”.
Sex-selective abortion in the UK
The Department of Health maintains that abortion on the grounds of sex alone is illegal in the UK. However, there is a growing body of evidence suggesting that sex-selective abortion is occurring in the UK.
A BBC investigation in September 2018 revealed evidence that new non-invasive prenatal tests (NIPT) are being used on a widespread basis to determine the sex of babies early in pregnancy and that some women are coming under intense pressure to undergo sex-selective abortions.
An undercover Telegraph investigation in 2012 revealed that doctors were agreeing to provide sex-selective abortions, “no questions asked”, and uncovered that sex-selective abortions were being offered in the UK, including by a doctor who worked both privately and for the NHS.
A 2015 Department of Health report on sex-selective abortion detailed the personal testimonies of women who had been coerced into obtaining a sex-selective abortion in the UK by their partner or family.
Public opinion on sex-selective abortion
A poll of over 2,000 British adults from Savanta ComRes showed that 91% of women and 89% of the general population agree that gender-selective abortion should be explicitly banned by the law.
Right To Life UK spokesperson Catherine Robinson said “It is a great tragedy for a person to be told by their mother that they wanted to abort them. Every person has an inherent value and their right to life should not depend on the discriminatory attitude of others”.
“Babies in the womb deserve to be protected, whether they are a boy or a girl, have a disability, or in any other circumstance. We would like to see a society in which mothers are supported to welcome children amidst the challenges of life”.
