The Chief Executive Officer of the British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS), the UK's largest independent abortion provider, was made an Honorary Doctor of Science (Social Sciences) at a ceremony in Canterbury Cathedral on 22 November.

The University of Kent has said it awards honorary degrees to "distinguished individuals from many walks of life who have made a significant contribution to society". 

Despite BPAS being responsible for over 70,000 abortions last year, Furedi described her role as the "the best job in the world".

She has repeatedly campaigned for more extreme abortion legislation and has told the Guardian, "the best abortion law would be a blank sheet of paper."

Speaking at the launch of BPAS campaign 'We Trust Women' she said, "I would like to be very, very clear and blunt… there should be no legal upper limit."

Controversially, former BPAS board member and abortion activist Professor Sally Sheldon is a member of the Honorary Degree Committee that selected Furedi for the award.

The law professor at the University of Kent has campaigned for abortion on demand for more than 20 years, supports sex-selective abortion, and was an architect of a private members bill calling for more extreme abortion legislation.

Sheldon has also been handed over £500,000 of public money to write a book about the history of abortion in Britain.

Ann Furedi's husband Frank Furedi is the University of Kent's Emeritus Professor of Sociology.

Alongside the launch of a BPAS report, arguing that women need access to both medical and surgical abortions, Furedi argued that abortion should be seen as a form of "birth control".

She said: "Family planning is contraception and abortion. Abortion is birth control that women need when their regular method lets them down."

In 2014, Furedi came under strong criticism when she told online magazine Spiked that women should be able to abort on the grounds of the child's gender, saying: "The woman gives her reasons, the doctor decides on the grounds as set out in the law… there is no legal requirement to deny a woman an abortion if she has a sex preference, providing that the legal grounds are still met." 

She added, "the law is silent on the matter of gender selection, just as it is silent on rape."

The last public poll in the UK on sex-selective abortion found that 84% of people (and 85% of women) favoured a total and explicit ban on abortions based on an unborn baby's sex. Another ComRes poll found a similar figure, with 86% of people (and 88% of women) favouring a total ban on aborting babies solely because of their gender.

BPAS has objected to life-saving plans that would let coroners hold inquests for stillbirths over fears the move will recognise the humanity and personhood of an unborn baby.

Right To Life UK spokesperson Catherine Robinson said: "Awarding Ann Furedi an honorary degree is an incredible departure from recognising those whom the university claim the award is for. Abortion is not something beneficial to society, rather it is detrimental to society."