JOHN SMEATON, DIRECTOR OF SPUC: SPUC criticises new reason for non-prosecution of sex-selective abortion

Monday, 7 October 2013

SPUC criticises new reason for non-prosecution of sex-selective abortion

Keir Starmer, DPP

SPUC has criticised the new reason put forward today for the non-prosecution of sex-selective abortion. SPUC was responding to the statement issued today by Keir Starmer, the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) for England & Wales http://www.cps.gov.uk/news/latest_news/dpp_abortion_case_fuller_reasons/

Paul Tully, SPUC's general secretary, told the media:

"Keir Starmer, the DPP, has now contradicted the earlier announcement by Jenny Hopkins of the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) which said that the decision not to prosecute was reached on the basis of the CPS public interest test http://www.cps.gov.uk/news/latest_news/cps_statement_abortion_related_case/

Now the DPP has said that it is essentially for lack of evidence that they are not going to proceed with any prosecution:

'again it is obvious from this analysis that even on this narrow basis the evidence is not strong and prospects of conviction would not be high.'
The issue has clearly embarrassed the prosecuting authority. That embarrassment arises ultimately because the Department of Health under successive Secretaries of State not only refuses to ensure that doctors implement the grounds in the Abortion Act - providing abortions only when the grounds are met - but actually encourages doctors to offer abortion to any woman who says she wants one."

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About Me

I became involved in SPUC after graduating, when I established a branch in south London in 1974. I have worked full-time for SPUC for 42 years. I became chief executive of SPUC in the UK in 1996, having been general secretary since 1978. I was elected vice-president of International Right to Life Federation in 2005. At UN conferences in Cairo, Copenhagen, Beijing, Istanbul and Rome, I helped coordinate more than 150 pro-life/pro-family groups resulting in pro-life victories in Cairo, Istanbul and Rome. I was educated at Salesian College, London, before going to Oxford where I graduated in English Language and Literature. I qualified as a teacher, becoming head of English at a secondary school. I am married to Josephine. We have a grown-up family and we live in north London.