The amendment tabled by Bruce who is also chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Pro-Life Group was defeated by 292 to 201.

Bruce said the law was being "interpreted in different ways" but the government said it had been clear that sex selection abortion was "already illegal".

Dr Sarah Wollaston, chair of the Health Select Committee said the amendment was "unnecessary" and warned against stigmatising communities by implying it was a widespread practice. She told MPs that it could prevent women from confiding in their doctor as they may fear they will be criminalised.

Conservative MP David Burrowes supported the amendment telling MPs the law "does not expressly prohibit gender-selective abortions". Bruce had received support from more than 100 MPs prior to the debate.

However the amendment had been opposed by many women`s health organisations including the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists and the Royal College of Midwives.

Following the outcome of the debate, the British Pregnancy Advisory Service said: "We are relieved to see this amendment so clearly defeated. Department of Health guidance is clear that abortion for reasons of gender alone is not lawful and women generally do not request abortions simply because they prefer one sex over another.

"This was an amendment designed to undermine abortion law and provision in the UK, and would have harmed the very women it purported to protect. Where gender inequality exists this should be tackled by challenging attitudes that elevate males over females, not by further restricting women`s reproductive choices".

Very little is known on sex-selection abortion in the UK, but campaign group Stop Gendercide says it is a reality for some Asian women living in Britain.

"Aborting an unborn child because it`s a girl is the first act of gender inequality", according to Rani Bilkhu, a spokeswoman for Stopgendercide.org and founder of Jeena International, a charity that helps and empowers women.

"People don`t understand the cultural bias and the deep rooted cause of sex selection abortion", says Bilkhu.

A recent investigation by the Independent newspaper suggested that abortion is being widely used in some immigrant communities in England and Wales to avoid having daughters.

Statistical analysis of the 2011 census suggested widespread discrepancies in the sex ratio of children in some families; most significantly families from Pakistan, Afghanistan, Nepal and India.

"I know some third or fourth generation British Indian women who are doing very well in their careers but are choosing to abort female foetuses because they define their success by giving birth to a boy."

Bilkhu recently worked with a young woman who had three abortions in one year; she thought her in-laws would like and accept her more if she gave birth to a boy. The law, according to Bilkhu is not fit for purpose.

Meanwhile other women`s rights organisations urged MPs to vote against amending sex selective abortion on the Serious Crime bill.

A statement issued ahead of the vote by Southall Black Sisters, Centre for Secular Spaces and other individual organisations said:

"The current laws on abortion already make clear that sex selection is unlawful, except for specific medical (genetic disorder) reasons. There is no reason why existing criminal laws that already cover acts of domestic violence, including an assault-causing miscarriage, cannot be used."

Some campaigners believe that while sex-selection abortion must be stamped out, changes must be made to attitudes, not the law.

MPs did back an alternative amendment to review the extent of gender selection abortion in England, Wales and Northern Ireland by 491 to 2.

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