Professor Wendy Savage, who made the comment, is one of 18 members who make up the British Medical Association's medical ethics committee.
Speaking on behalf of herself rather than the BMA to the Mail on Sunday, she said forcing women to have children they didn't want would harm them and make their child's life worse as well.
She also called for the current law banning abortions on the grounds of gender to be scrapped.
Her opinions were formed during time spent in Africa, where she saw women suffer through back-street or occult abortions.
Savage also says the law banning abortions after 24 weeks of pregnancy should be scrapped, as well as the ban on buying abortion pills over the internet rather than having them prescribed by a doctor.
The doctor told the paper: "If a woman does not want to have a foetus who is one sex or the other, forcing her is not going to be good for the eventual child, and it's not going to be good for [the mother's] mental health."
Speaking to Premier Aisling Hubert, a Christian bioethics campaigner, said: "I think it's incredibly disturbing and very worrying that she would see children as little more than a commodity to fit the wants and the fancies of parents, instead of human beings with inherent dignity and value.
"With this kind of ethics and this kind of morality as a guide for the British Medical Association, I think there is no option but for her to step down, when she values human life in such a way."
A BMA spokesman said: "The BMA supports the current law on abortion.
"Though we recognise the diversity of opinion amongst membership, we advise members to act within the boundaries of the law and their own conscience.
"Given the range of views on this subject, patients must be entitled to impartial and objective medical advice and treatment."
Listen to Premier's Aaron James speaking to Aisling Hubert: