Britain's leading abortion charity has been criticised for encouraging 'sex-selective' terminations - amid fears these are on the rise among the country's Indian women.

The British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS), which carries out 110,000 terminations a year, suggests that aborting a baby on the basis of sex is not illegal - despite Government advice explicitly stating it is against the law.

Furious campaigners called the advice 'irresponsible' and pointed out that many pregnant British-Indian women are under huge pressure to have boys, and may be coerced into having an abortion as soon as a scan reveals a female foetus.

Women of Indian origin are likely to have aborted 400 girls on the basis of their sex in the five years up to 2021, the latest figures reveal.

But Department of Health guidance issued to doctors in 2014 states: 'Abortion on the grounds of gender alone is illegal. Gender is not itself a lawful ground under the Abortion Act.'

But the BPAS website says: 'The law is silent on the matter. Reason of foetal sex is not a specified ground for abortion within the Abortion Act, but nor is it specifically prohibited.'

BPAS carries out almost half the abortions in the UK, through drugs it sends by post or surgical procedures at its 55 clinics nationwide. For 2024/25, the charity netted an income of £64 million - of which £63 million came from its work for the NHS.

Dame Jasvinder Sanghera, a campaigner against forced marriages, said: 'Without a shadow of a doubt, sex-selective abortions are going on. There are many reasons. There is still the practice of dowry, which means girls immediately become a financial burden.

'Health professionals need to stop turning a blind eye because of cultural sensitivities or the fear of being accused of racism.'

Britain's leading abortion charity has been criticised for encouraging 'sex-selective' terminations. Pictured: An ultrasound of a baby in a womb 

Khadija Khan is a journalist and broadcaster who says aborting a baby based on gender is 'a repugnant practice'

Rani Bilkhu, the founder of Jeena International, a charity for Asian victims of domestic violence, said: 'The authorities are reluctant to talk about this issue, because they feel it might be based on racism, but it isn't.

'This is lived experience from our communities, and we need to talk about it.'

Senior Tory peer Baroness Eaton said: 'This is a great tragedy to which society must not turn a blind eye. Parliament needs to change the law to ensure there is an explicit prohibition on sex-selective abortions, protecting both baby girls and women at risk of being coerced into abortions.'

Catherine Robinson, of pro-life campaign group Right To Life, said: 'It's irresponsible for BPAS to publish advice suggesting that sex-selective abortion is not illegal, because it risks normalising sex-selective abortion and is likely encouraging abortions sought purely because of a baby's sex.'