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| Decision not to charge over gender-based abortions was right, DPP says | Decision not to charge over gender-based abortions was right, DPP says |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| The Director of Public Prosecutions says it was "right" not to charge two doctors over claims they offered to arrange abortions based on gender. | The Director of Public Prosecutions says it was "right" not to charge two doctors over claims they offered to arrange abortions based on gender. |
| The doctors from Birmingham and Manchester were referred to prosecutors after a Daily Telegraph investigation. | The doctors from Birmingham and Manchester were referred to prosecutors after a Daily Telegraph investigation. |
| Keir Starmer QC said there was just "sufficient evidence" to prosecute but it was not in the public interest and a health regulator inquiry is ongoing. | |
| MPs are due to debate policy on the prosecution of abortion offences later. | MPs are due to debate policy on the prosecution of abortion offences later. |
| In the wake of the decision, 50 politicians signed a letter to the Daily Telegraph to complain that offences against the Abortion Act was not being enforced. Attorney General Dominic Grieve will respond to their concerns in the Commons. | In the wake of the decision, 50 politicians signed a letter to the Daily Telegraph to complain that offences against the Abortion Act was not being enforced. Attorney General Dominic Grieve will respond to their concerns in the Commons. |
| Last month, Mr Starmer said he would make the detailed reasons public after Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt called for "urgent clarification" on the Crown Prosecution Service decision. | |
| The CPS has published the details for its decision and in a letter to the attorney general, Mr Starmer said the cases were "by no means clear cut". | |
| He said: "Although there is sufficient evidence to bring such a prosecution, that is a very narrow basis for a prosecution and the evidence is not strong... | |
| "I appreciate that others may disagree with the decision arrived at in this case, but I am content that the decision not to prosecute on the facts in these cases was the right decision." | |
| Mr Starmer said the law does not expressly ban gender-specific abortions, although it does prohibits any abortion carried out without two medical practitioners deciding the health risks of continuing with a pregnancy outweigh those of termination. | |
| "On the facts of these cases, it would not be possible to prove that either doctor authorised an abortion on gender-specific grounds alone... | |
| "The only basis for a prosecution would be that although we could not prove these doctors authorised a gender-specific abortion, they did not carry out a sufficiently robust assessment of the risks". | |
| Both doctors had been referred to the General Medical Council and had conditions imposed on their registration. | |
| "Having consulted the GMC, it is clear that the council will investigate these cases," Mr Starmer said. | |
| "It is arguably more appropriate, on the facts of these two cases, for a professional disciplinary body to evaluate the proper approach that doctors should take... than it is for a criminal court. | |
| Mr Starmer added: "The outcome in these cases should not be taken as an indication that criminal proceedings will not be brought where an abortion is procured on gender-specific grounds: These cases have been considered on their individual facts and merits." | |
| Mr Grieve said he was satisfied that the decision not to prosecute had been made "properly and conscientiously". | |
| "This was a difficult decision, and different prosecutors may have come to a different conclusion, but it is not for me to say whether it is the right or wrong decision," he said. | |
| "It is for the DPP to make his decisions independently and based on the individual facts of the matter.." |