Press Release

Campaigner to continue to fight ‘gender-abortion’ despite punitive costs

20 January 2017         Issued by: Christian Legal Centre

A 23-year-old Christian campaigner has said she will continue her fight to protect baby girls from ‘gender-abortion’ in the UK, despite facing punitive costs.

Aisling Hubert made the resolution following a court ruling this week which refused to amend the huge legal costs awarded against her after she tried to bring two doctors filmed offering abortion on the grounds of the baby’s sex to justice.

Miss Hubert appeared at Brighton and Hove Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday (17 January) to challenge the crippling legal costs previously awarded against her, but District Judge James said that he could not amend or reduce the costs.

Instead a settlement was reached, and approved by the court. The terms of the settlement are confidential at the request of some of the parties other than Miss Hubert.

The Christian Legal Centre, which continues to support Aisling, has said that it will help her raise the funds she needs.

‘The fight is not over’

Miss Hubert says she will continue to protect babies in the womb from ‘gender-abortion’:

“Baby girls in the womb are still not safe.

“These little girls’ lives are infinitely valuable, so in a sense the costs I face mean nothing.

“This case has shown that doctors are willing to kill innocent girls not just abroad, but here at home, and do it for money. Yet nobody is prosecuting them.

“The costs awarded against me are unjust, but I hope to raise the funds and continue to stand up for preborn girls.

“I’m glad that this stage of the case has now finished but the fight is not over. I will continue to seek justice for the most vulnerable members of our society.”

Undercover Investigation

In 2012 the Daily Telegraph launched an undercover investigation to find out if abortions were happening in Britain on the basis of the baby’s sex. Two doctors, Dr Palaniappan Rajmohan and Dr Prabha Sivaraman, were filmed offering a pregnant mother an abortion solely on the grounds that she did not want to have a girl.

The police investigated, and the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) determined that there was sufficient evidence to prosecute the two doctors. But in September 2013, the CPS dropped the case, saying that it wasn’t in the “public interest” to prosecute.

Rare private prosecutions

Supported by the Christian Legal Centre, Miss Hubert then launched private prosecutions against the doctors.

The CPS had key video evidence in its possession, yet refused to release it.

Instead it took over and dropped the cases for a second time, and Miss Hubert was ordered to pay the doctors’ legal costs of £36,000. A further £11,000 was awarded against Miss Hubert following her attempt to challenge the CPS’s decision to intervene in her private prosecutions.

Huge costs orders

Miss Hubert was unable to meet the £36,000 costs order, and was summonsed to appear before the Magistrates’ Court.

She appeared in court on Tuesday to challenge the costs, asking whether they could be cancelled or reduced. The doctors insisted on retrieving all £36,000 of the costs, and the judge was powerless to cancel the orders.

An agreement was reached, but the terms are being kept confidential at the request of some of the parties.

‘Brought disgrace to the profession’

The doctors involved were investigated by the General Medical Council (GMC) as a result of the filmed consultations. But the GMC dropped its investigation into Dr Sivaraman.

The GMC panel found that Dr Rajmohan agreed to record a false reason for a woman wanting to have a abortion, which he recorded as ‘too young for pregnancy’.

The panel concluded that the doctor had acted dishonestly and suspended his registration with immediate effect.

At the time, Dr Rajmohan said in a statement: “I’m ashamed and sorry that I have brought disgrace to the profession, public trust and also let down my colleagues, at the same time bringing disrepute to my employing trust.”

‘Empty words’

Commenting on Tuesday’s judgment, Andrea Williams, Chief Executive of the Christian Legal Centre, which is supporting Miss Hubert, said:

“It is scandalous that Aisling has to pay anything in costs, when the evidence is there to prosecute the doctors.

“We will continue to stand with Aisling, helping her pay the costs, and to continue her fight to protect preborn children.”