Tell Peers to vote to stop sex-selective abortion becoming legal

A clause was added to the Crime and Policing Bill in the House of Commons that would legalise sex-selective abortion.

The Bill is now in the House of Lords. Peers have tabled Amendment 424 to remove this clause and stop sex-selective abortion being legalised.

Peers will vote on this amendment on Wednesday, 18 March. Further details on the proposed law change are available here.

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Tell Peers to vote to stop sex-selective abortion becoming legal

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I’m writing to ask you to vote in support of Amendment 424 to the Crime and Policing Bill to safeguard women and baby girls by stopping sex-selective at-home abortions from being legalised.

Clause 208 was belatedly added to the Bill in the House of Commons and, if the clause were to become law, would legalise women administering their own abortions for sex-selective purposes in England and Wales.

Baroness Monckton has tabled Amendment 424 to remove this clause, which is expected to be put to a vote on Wednesday, 18 March.

Abortion for sex-selective reasons is currently illegal in England and Wales (https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/313459/20140509_-_Abortion_Guidance_Document.pdf#page=10).

However, Clause 208 would disapply existing criminal law relating to the permitted grounds for accessing or procuring abortion care for women acting in relation to their own pregnancies, meaning it would no longer be an offence for a woman to have an abortion for any reason, including for the purposes of sex-selection (often known as ‘gendercide’).

This would put vulnerable women in certain minority communities, where evidence suggests there is sometimes a preference for baby boys over baby girls, at grave risk, since they would no longer be able to appeal to a legal deterrent against aborting a baby girl away from a clinical setting if they come under pressure to do so. Many parents do not find out the sex of their baby until a mid-pregnancy scan, often referred to as the 20-week scan, meaning women in such communities may be under greater pressure to have high-risk, self-induced late abortions at home without medical supervision.

When the clause was introduced in the Commons, the explanatory note accompanying the clause confirmed that it would apply at any gestation, meaning a woman could perform her own abortion on sex-selective grounds throughout all nine months of pregnancy.

The Telegraph has reported on a legal opinion by Stephen Rose KC, a leading criminal barrister, commissioned by Sir Edward Leigh, the Father of the House, ahead of the amendment being voted on in the Commons, which confirmed that the amendment would make it legal for a woman to perform her own abortion on sex-selective grounds (https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/06/15/full-term-abortion-legal-change-planned-mps/).

The same paper reported that over 1,000 medics wrote to MPs ahead of the amendment being voted on in the Commons, warning that sex-based abortion would become legal if the clause becomes law (https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2025/06/16/mps-are-opening-door-to-sex-based-abortion-doctors-warn/).

This is not a mere hypothetical issue. Media outlets have recently reported that newly revealed data from the Government has confirmed for the first time in official statistics that at least 400 sex-selective abortions have taken place in the United Kingdom in recent years (https://www.spectator.com.au/2026/01/foetal-femicide-has-arrived-in-britain/).

If Clause 208 becomes law and sex-selective abortion is legalised, there will likely be a further increase in the number of sex-selective abortions in England and Wales - and an increase in women being pressured to have an abortion because they are expecting a girl, leading to significant social problems, as seen elsewhere. Polling has found that 89% of the public and 91% of women oppose abortion on sex-based grounds. Yet, the effect of Clause 208 would be to legalise women administering their own abortions for sex-selective purposes.

Further information is available in the briefing here: https://stopgendercide.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/political-briefing-cpb-amendments-nc1-nc20-and-sex-selective-abortion-16-june-2025.pdf

It would be much appreciated if you could confirm that you will vote in support of Amendment 424 to stop sex-selective abortion from being legalised, and also Amendment 425 in the name of Baroness Stroud, which would protect women under pressure to have an abortion for sex-selective purposes, by restoring face to face appointments with a healthcare professional before an at-home abortion takes place, enabling coercion more easily to be detected and preventing women from being coerced into requesting abortion pills over a telephone call.

Far from protecting vulnerable women and girls, Clause 208 would put some of the most vulnerable women in our country at greater risk. It does not advance, but rolls back women’s rights and equality. I look forward to hearing from you.

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Tell Peers to vote to stop sex-selective abortion becoming legal

Tell Peers to vote to stop sex-selective abortion becoming legal

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