Time to end the evil of sex-selective abortion

In the future, men are set to outnumber women by a considerable margin. That’s according to some new research which suggests there are millions of missing girls thanks to sex-selective abortion.

In certain countries, there’s a clear cultural preference for boys rather than girls and by 2100, if current rates continue, 22million girls could be lost to the practice.

The study, published in the BMJ Global Health found that prenatal sex selection is helping to skew birth rates to favour boys. Just think about the consequences of a world where there is a surplus of men. Dr Fengqing Chao, lead author of the research, warns that: ‘Fewer than expected females in the population could result in elevated levels of antisocial behaviour and violence and may ultimately affect long-term stability and social sustainable development.’

And it is happening here in the UK. A BBC investigation in 2018 found that non-invasive prenatal testing is being widely used to determine the sex of babies. An earlier investigation by the Telegraph found evidence of doctors agreeing to provide sex-selective abortions with ‘no questions asked’.

This is what happens when you become so wedded to the right to have an abortion that you become blind to the consequences. It’s what happens when we act as if we are master over who can and cannot be born. It is a form of idolatry and rebellion against the Creator who made human beings male and female, in His image, equal in standing and with the same intrinsic dignity and worth.

Ironically, those most in favour of widespread abortion and liberal laws are also those who are most opposed to gender inequality. Yet where are their voices condemning what’s going on? What about the celebrities, happy to boast about their own abortions, yet silent in the face of this global genocide. There is, tragically, a systemic failure to speak out about sex selection and abortion.

This was brought painfully home to me back in 2015. Fiona Bruce MP tried to get an amendment passed that aimed to clarify the existing law in the UK to make it explicitly clear that abortion on the basis of sex is illegal. Surely MPs could agree that wherever they stood on the issue of abortion, doing it on the basis of sex was profoundly wrong and should therefore be explicitly outlawed. Evidence was presented which suggested the practice did happen in the UK.

Despite passing its first vote, the amendment was ultimately voted down when Yvette Cooper MP decided it was a ‘pro-life initiative’ and encouraged, with great success, colleagues to vote against it. And so the amendment ultimately fell. It was one of those sobering moments where you realise just how difficult it was going to be to persuade the House of Commons to make any moves to tighten up abortion laws.

Perversely, the UK Government insists that abortion on the basis of sex is already illegal. But that’s not how the current law is interpreted by others. The British Medical Association has defended sex-selective abortion. The British Pregnancy Advisory Service even claims that abortion for gender is not, in fact, illegal.

While some politicians are clearly okay with sticking their heads above the parapet when it comes to other gender-related issues, including transgender rights and the need to maintain female-only sports, there’s a total radio silence on the injustice that is seeing babies aborted for being the ‘wrong sex’.

The time has come to bring an end to this blatant discrimination by imposing a ban on sex-selective abortions. Changing the law would not be complicated, but will require politicians to do the right thing, in spite of the protestations of angry pro-abortion groups.

Above all, let’s pray for God’s mercy. We are reaping as we have sown. But our God is on the throne. He delights in mercy, not judgment. So we pray in confidence and with expectation: Lord have mercy!