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The Chief Medical Officer is to write to all GPs to make it plain that abortions carried out solely on the grounds of the sex of the child are wrong.

The letter from Dame Sally Davies will clarify the law on gender abortions and will make it clear what the government thinks are the information that doctors need to make a decision in good faith.

It will also remind clinicians that the pre-signing of abortion certification forms is against the law.

Spot checks at more than 250 abortion clinics last year found evidence of blank forms being signed in anticipation of patients seeking a termination. The law states that, except in emergencies, two doctors must agree for a woman to have an abortion.

Although doctors do not have to see the woman in person, they must certify that they are aware of her circumstances and why she wants to go ahead with the procedure.

The fact that the letter will be sent out to all family doctors was revealed in an answer to a Parliamentary question by public health minister...