Health ministers have opposed the statement made by Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Keir Starmer with regard to the recent sex selection abortion scandal.
In his official statement, the DPP supported the Crown Prosecution Service’s decision not to prosecute doctors who were prepared to permit abortions on the grounds of gender.
But Health ministers have responded by saying that abortion on the grounds of gender alone is “unacceptable and illegal.”
The Department of Health (DoH) has asked medical regulators to update the advice and guidance on carrying out abortions.
A DoH spokesman said: “We have asked the regulators to look at the guidance for clinicians in light of the DPP’s letter.”
Conservative MP David Burrowes commented: “The DPP’s decision makes it very unlikely that anyone could be prosecuted for an abortion-related crime.”
And the Bishop of Carlisle, the Rt Rev James Newcome, said that Mr Starmer’s statement “might be interpreted as legitimising this practice.”
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