Today a General Medical Council (GMC) panel determined that Dr Saroj Adlakha’s name be erased from the medical register. The panel found that the Birmingham GP’s fitness to practise was severely impaired because of several instances of severe misconduct centring around the procuring of a late abortion for her daughter knowing that it was illegal under British and Spanish law.

In its statement on the case the GMC pronounced:

“The Panel has expressed its concern regarding two core features of this case – namely, your [Adlakha’s] willingness to provide support, advice and assistance to obtain an abortion which you knew or believed would be unlawful, and multiple instances of deceit, lack of probity and dishonesty. These failings, together with a total lack of demonstrable insight on your part, are so serious as to be incompatible with your continuing to be a registered medical practitioner. All key elements of the public interest – particularly, the maintenance of public confidence in the medical profession and the declaring and upholding of proper standards of behaviour – require that, in all the circumstances of this case, erasure is the only appropriate sanction.”

Commenting on the case for the ProLife Alliance Simon Hopkins said:

“It is clear from the GMC ruling that the sanction of erasure from the medical register was the only possible judgement on a case of such severity. Not only did Dr Adlakha flout the law as she understood it, but in addition her misconduct was repeated, took place over a prolonged period of time, and involved deep subterfuge and dishonesty. The outrage which these incidents have justifiably aroused confirms the medical community’s condemnation of late abortion and will fuel the debate over whether the abortion limit should be further reduced.”

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