{"id":12708,"date":"2012-02-23T19:11:55","date_gmt":"2012-02-24T00:11:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/watchwomanonthewall\/?p=12708"},"modified":"2012-02-23T19:11:55","modified_gmt":"2012-02-24T00:11:55","slug":"abortion-investigation-doctors-filmed-agreeing-illegal-abortions-no-questions-asked","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/watchwomanonthewall\/2012\/02\/abortion-investigation-doctors-filmed-agreeing-illegal-abortions-no-questions-asked.html","title":{"rendered":"Abortion investigation: doctors filmed agreeing illegal abortions ‘no questions asked’"},"content":{"rendered":"

Watchwoman:<\/strong><\/span> These sex-preference abortions wouldn’t be illegal here. \u00a0There are no restrictions in the USA. In the USA, Planned Predators murder for the bloody money.\u00a0 The media would have you believe that Roe v. Wade allowed only abortions in the first trimester. NOT TRUE. The media has lied to you. Planned Predators have lied to you. Democrats have lied to you. RINO Republicans have lied to you. Feminists have lied to you. Roe v. Wade said anyone for any reason can murder the unborn baby, even just seconds before a full-term baby is fully delivered by stabbing them in the back of their heads and then sucking their brains out of their heads with no anesthetic for the slaughtered full-term 9 month old baby.\u00a0 That’s right, the baby is almost fully born, only a tiny portion of the child’s head remains in the vagina and then the murdering abortionist does his wicked deed.\u00a0 He murders the baby without even a drop of anesthetic to dull the pain for the suffering child.\u00a0 And nothing can be done to the murderer because it’s legal here in the USA!\u00a0 Congratulations! Feminists!\u00a0 You’re so proud of murdering and torturing the unborn.\u00a0 Aren’t you free!\u00a0 Well, one day you won’t be free, you’ll be in hell’s fires for all eternity! With no anesthetic!\u00a0 \u25ac\u00a0 Donna Calvin<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Women are being granted illegal abortions by doctors based on the sex of their unborn baby, an undercover investigation by The Daily Telegraph reveals.<\/h2>\n
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By Claire Newell<\/a>, and Holly Watt<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\u00a0\u2022 Doctors filmed agreeing to abortions based on gender<\/strong>
\n\u2022 “I don’t ask questions,” doctor tells pregnant woman<\/strong>
\n\u2022 Health Secretary Andrew Lansley \u201cextremely concerned”<\/strong>
\n\u2022 Questions for watchdog over ‘abortion on demand’ industry<\/strong><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Doctors at British clinics have been secretly filmed agreeing to terminate foetuses purely because they are either male or female. Clinicians admitted they were prepared to falsify paperwork to arrange the abortions even though it is illegal to conduct such \u201csex-selection\u201d procedures.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Andrew Lansley, the Health Secretary, said: \u201cI\u2019m extremely concerned to hear about these allegations. Sex selection is illegal and is morally wrong. I\u2019ve asked my officials to investigate this as a matter of urgency.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The disclosures will add to growing concerns about the regulation of abortion clinics and the apparent ability of women to secure terminations \u201con demand\u201d.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The Daily Telegraph carried out an investigation into sex-selection abortions after concerns were raised that the procedures were becoming increasingly common for cultural and social reasons.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Acting on specific information, undercover reporters accompanied pregnant women to nine clinics in different parts of the country. In three instances doctors were recorded offering to arrange terminations after being told the mother-to-be did not want to go ahead with the pregnancy because of the sex of the unborn child.<\/p>\n

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One consultant, Prabha Sivaraman, who works for both private clinics and NHS hospitals in Manchester, was filmed telling a pregnant woman who said she wanted to abort a female foetus: \u201cI don\u2019t ask questions. If you want a termination, you want a termination\u201d.<\/p>\n

She later telephoned a colleague to book the procedure, explaining that it was for \u201csocial reasons\u201d and the woman \u201cdoesn\u2019t want questions asked\u201d.<\/p>\n

She said to her colleague: \u201cThis [the termination] will be under private, she doesn\u2019t want to go through NHS. OK, so \u2014 that\u2019s right, because you\u2019re part of our team and she doesn\u2019t want questions asked\u201d.<\/p>\n

Miss Sivaraman, who works for Pall Mall Medical in Manchester and is an obstetrician and gynaecologist at North Manchester General Hospital, said the cost of the termination would be \u00a3200 or \u00a3300, on top of the \u00a3500 already paid to the clinic for the consultation.<\/p>\n

After taking the woman\u2019s contact details, Miss Sivaraman asked her if she had considered her options.<\/p>\n

\u201cOh, absolutely \u2026 I can\u2019t have it, this baby, because of the gender, so that\u2019s just how it is \u2026\u201d replied the woman.<\/p>\n

The doctor booked the pregnant woman in for a termination the following week despite the reason for the abortion being clearly explained.<\/p>\n

Another consultant, Claudine Domoney, who works with 132 Healthwise clinic in Harley Street, central London, agreed to arrange for a woman to abort a boy after being told that she and her husband already had a son from his first marriage. The practice is known as \u201cfamily balancing\u201d.<\/p>\n

In a consultation room in the Chelsea and Westminster hospital, the woman, who was about 18 weeks pregnant, explained her reasons for the termination \u201cIt\u2019s a boy, and that\u2019s the reason, we don\u2019t want to have a second boy.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s obviously taken a little bit of time to decide this?\u201d asked Miss Domoney, in reference to the fact that the woman was 18 weeks pregnant.<\/p>\n

The consultant was still happy to proceed but explained that as she was going away she would be unable to perform the procedure, so she telephoned a colleague to see if he could fit the pregnant woman in for the following week. \u201cHe is OK for Tuesday\u201d, said Miss Domoney when she returned.<\/p>\n

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\u201cSo the two of us are very experienced in this area. He [the other doctor] will organise for you to have a room on the private ward he\u2019s OK to do it on Tuesday.\u201d<\/p>\n

Miss Domoney said she was \u201cuncomfortable\u201d with the situation, so decided to refer the case to a colleague.<\/p>\n

Stephanie Byrom, the chief executive of Pall Mall Medical, denied that the clinic offered terminations on the grounds of gender determination and said that if one of its consultants had breached its rules it would take \u201cimmediate action\u201d.<\/p>\n

At both clinics offering the sex-selection abortions, the pregnant women were not offered in-depth counselling on their decision to request a termination \u2014 despite the questionable grounds.<\/p>\n

The Daily Telegraph intends to publish more disclosures from the investigation tomorrow, in particular a recording of a doctor offering to falsify paperwork.<\/p>\n

MPs have raised concerns over the growing commercialisation of abortion clinics and David Cameron and Mr Lansley are under pressure to accept proposals that women should receive independent counselling before a procedure takes place.<\/p>\n

Last year, the Council of Europe recommended that member states, including Britain, stop telling parents the gender of their baby because of concerns that this was encouraging sex-selection abortions. Many hospitals have stopped giving parents this information.<\/p>\n

However, blood tests that disclose the sex of a foetus are widely available on the internet or abroad. An undercover reporter telephoning an abortion advice line was also told private clinics would be able to offer a scan \u2014 for a fee.<\/p>\n

Abortions for non-medical reasons are legal until 24 weeks, but terminations on grounds of sex of the foetus are illegal under the 1967 Abortion Act.<\/p>\n

Doctors must agree that there is a compelling case for termination, but it is claimed that many abortions are agreed \u201con demand\u201d and that the official paperwork does not fully reflect the discussions that have taken place.<\/p>\n

In 2010 there were 189,574 terminations in England and Wales, an eight per cent increase in the past decade. There is some evidence that more female than male foetuses are aborted.<\/p>\n

The women accompanying Telegraph reporters to consultations were from a variety of ethnic backgrounds.<\/p>\n

At each appointment, the pregnant woman explained that she had taken a blood test abroad or had a scan to determine the sex of the foetus and wanted a termination because of the gender. Staff at several clinics agreed to arrange abortions for women who said they did not want to continue with their pregnancies because of the sex of their babies.<\/p>\n

However, at other clinics, doctors made it clear that terminations because of gender were not legal and said they were unable to help. The disclosures will increase pressure on the Care Quality Commission, the NHS watchdog, which is already facing criticism over its failure to regulate care homes properly.<\/p>\n

Read More: http:\/\/www.telegraph.co.uk\/health\/healthnews\/9099511\/Abortion-investigation-doctors-filmed-agreeing-illegal-abortions-no-questions-asked.html<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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