(Don’t Screen Us Out) Public Health Scotland have published abortion statistics that show that there has been a 4% increase in the number of abortions where a baby has a disability, from 274 in 2022 to 285 in 2023. 49 of these were abortions where the baby had Down's syndrome.
Under the current law, abortion is allowed up to birth if a baby has a disability including Down’s syndrome. However, Sir Liam Fox MP recently tabled an amendment to the Criminal Justice Bill that was signed by over 76 MPs to stop abortion up to birth for babies with Down’s syndrome in England and Wales.
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Although, due to the General Election, the amendment will now not be voted on, it has helped build further momentum for change to stop abortion up to birth for Down’s syndrome.
The abortion time limit under Section 1(1)(a) of the Abortion Act is set at 24 weeks, but for cases in which a baby is thought to have a disability, including Down’s syndrome, abortion is currently available up to birth. This amendment would have equalised the time limit for babies with Down’s syndrome, meaning that it would be set at 24 weeks.
The roll-out of new NIPT (Non-Invasive Prenatal) tests by NHS Scotland appears to be having a continued impact on the number of terminations.
An investigation by The Sunday Times found that the number of babies born with Down’s syndrome has fallen by 30% in NHS hospitals that have introduced this form of screening.
The figures, which were released by 26 hospital trusts in England under freedom of information laws, account for about a fifth of the hospital trusts that offer maternity services. They show that more women who have the new test go on to have abortions.
Currently in England, Wales and Scotland, there is a general 24-week time limit for abortion, but if the baby has a disability, including Down’s syndrome, cleft lip and club foot, abortion is legal right up to birth.
The actual number of abortions for disability and Down’s syndrome is possibly higher than reported in the Public Health Scotland statistics due to underreporting of disability abortion statistics. A 2013 review showed 886 abortions for Down’s syndrome in England and Wales in 2010 but only 482 were reported in abortion statistics from the Department of Health and Social Care. The underreporting was confirmed by a 2014 Department of Health and Social Care review.
There has been growing momentum for a change in the law in this area after Heidi Crowter, a 28-year-old woman from Coventry who has Down’s syndrome, took a landmark case against the UK Government over the disability clause in the current law. Her case has been heard in the High Court and Court of Appeal.
Heidi has been joined in her fight for justice by Máire Lea-Wilson from Brentford, West London, whose four-year-old son, Aidan, has Down’s syndrome. Máire Lea-Wilson was placed under pressure to have an abortion when a 34-week scan revealed her son had Down’s syndrome. There has been widespread coverage of Heidi and Máire’s case across major media outlets.
The UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities has consistently criticised countries that provide for abortion in a way that distinguishes between fetuses on the basis of disability.
The Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities’ concluding observations on the initial report of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland made a key recommendation that the UK change its abortion law so that it does not single out babies with disabilities. The Government has decided to ignore this recommendation.
The Disability Rights Commission (now the Equality and Human Rights Commission) has said that this aspect of the Abortion Act “is offensive to many people; it reinforces negative stereotypes of disability…[and] is incompatible with valuing disability and non-disability equally.”
The 2013 Parliamentary Inquiry into Abortion for Disability found the vast majority of those who gave evidence believed allowing abortion up to birth on the grounds of disability is discriminatory, contrary to the spirit of the Equality Act 2010 and that it affects wider public attitudes towards discrimination. The Inquiry recommended Parliament review the question of allowing abortion on the grounds of disability and should consider repealing section 1(1)(d) of the Abortion Act, which allows for it.
Disabled peer Lord Shinkwin previously proposed a Bill in the House of Lords that would have repealed section 1(1)(d) of the Abortion Act – the Bill was undefeated but unfortunately ran out of time. The Bill was supported by Disability Rights UK.
Polling has shown that the majority of people in England, Wales and Scotland feel that disability should not be grounds for abortion at all, with only one in three people thinking it is acceptable to ban abortion for gender or race but allow it for disability.
Lynn Murray, spokesperson for Don’t Screen Us Out and mother of Rachel who has Down’s syndrome, who lives in Edinburgh said:
“As a mother of a 24-year-old daughter who has Down’s syndrome, I see every day the unique value she brings to our family and the positive impact she has on others around her.”
It is deeply concerning that despite the leaps that advocacy groups have made in raising awareness in support of people with Down’s syndrome, abortion in the case of Down’s syndrome is still so commonplace and widespread in the UK. In fact, we hear from parents all the time how abortion was repeatedly presented to them in the hospital as an obvious solution following the receipt of the news that their baby had Down’s syndrome.
Tweet This: It is deeply concerning that abortion in the case of Down syndrome is still so commonplace and widespread in the UK.
The roll-out of new Non-Invasive Prenatal tests on the NHS in Scotland appears to be having a continued impact on the number of terminations.
We are calling on the Government to undertake an urgent inquiry to review the impact that Non-Invasive Prenatal tests are having on the number of babies that are screened out by termination due to Down’s syndrome in Scotland each year. They then need to urgently introduce medical reforms to our screening programme to ensure that this deeply disturbing increase in the number of abortions for disability is reversed.
We are calling on the Scottish Government to urgently update Scottish abortion legislation to ensure that babies with Down’s syndrome cannot be aborted right up to birth, as is permitted under current legislation.”
Editor's note: This article was published by Don't Screen Us Out and is reprinted with permission.
