Abortion 'Loophole' Exploited by Grooming Gangs

An abortion loophole that allows grooming gangs to hide their sexual abuse has come under fire.

Several MPs have written to Wes Streeting explaining that, in cases in which grooming gang victims aged 15 or younger have become pregnant, these crimes can more easily be hidden because there is no requirement for abortion providers to notify a parent or guardian before performing an abortion on a child.

As the law stands, if a girl aged 15 or younger has an abortion, there is no requirement for the medical professionals involved with the abortion to notify either the girl’s parents or a guardian. Parents have no legal right to be informed or consulted before their child has an abortion.

In the letter to the Health Secretary, Carla Lockhart MP explained that some of the victims of grooming gangs, aged 15 or younger, had been pressured into abortions with “little to no emotional support from those who care about them most”.

She said: “Without doubt, the legal status quo also made it far easier for the vile individuals behind these crimes to conceal the evil they have inflicted on these vulnerable girls”.

“If there were a legal requirement for parental notification, then it is far more likely questions would have been asked potentially leading to the discovery of these heinous crimes at an earlier stage”.

In one case in Rochdale, a 13-year-old had an abortion in a hospital in an attempt to cover up the abuse. In another case in Oxford, a 12-year-old girl was repeatedly raped and made to have a back-room abortion after falling pregnant.

There was also strong public backlash after a plotline on Coronation Street revealed that a 14-year-old character was able to get a secret abortion without her parent’s knowledge. 

Members of the public were shocked to find out that the plotline reflected the current law where there is no requirement for abortion providers to notify a parent or guardian ahead of performing an abortion.

Sir Edward Leigh, the Conservative MP for Gainsborough, has urged that the law should be “revisited urgently to prevent further catastrophes”.