Prabha Sivaraman, 46, has been asked to appear before a Manchester court.
A 46-year-old Indian-origin doctor in UK has been summoned in court after she allegedly agreed to abort a foetus on basis of its gender. Prabha Sivaraman has to appear before a Manchester court next month.
South Yorkshire-based Ms Sivaraman was one of the two doctors purportedly filmed by undercover reporters from the UK daily "The Telegraph" back in 2012.
Ms Sivaraman, who worked for private clinics and National Health Service (NHS) hospitals in Manchester at the time, was allegedly recorded telling a woman, "I don't ask questions. If you want a termination, you want a termination."
Dr Palaniappan Rajmohan was purportedly filmed at the Calthorpe Clinic in Edgbaston, Birmingham, agreeing to conduct the procedure even though he told the undercover reporter, "It's like female infanticide, isn't it?"
A court in Birmingham is due to hold a hearing in January to decide whether to issue separate summons against Dr Rajmohan.
The summons to Ms Sivaraman to appear before a Manchester court next month is a first in UK. And it comes days after British MPs voted overwhelmingly to declare gender abortion illegal, following claims that the current law was unclear on the issue.
Ms Sivaraman is facing allegations under the 1861 Offences Against the Person Act.
A court official confirmed that the summons had been issued. The documents state that Ms Sivaraman faces an allegation of "conspiracy to procure poison to be used with intent to procure abortion."
Abortion is legal in mainland Britain under the 1967 Abortion Act, which permits terminations in certain circumstances, most commonly where two doctors agree that continuing the pregnancy could more be harmful to the woman or her existing children than ending it.
Some abortion providers claim the law is "silent" on the question of gender, but the prosecution is based on the argument that because it is not a ground under the Act and therefore is illegal.