Campaigners launch fight to end law that allows abortion for Down’s syndrome up until birth… and they are prepared to take battle to court if Government won’t back down
- Claim it is wrong to permit terminations at any time for babies with disabilities
- The group are raising £20,000 to take the Government to court over the issue
- In Britain, around nine in ten women have abortions after diagnosis for Down’s
Campaigners are challenging the ‘discriminatory’ law that allows abortion for Down’s syndrome up until birth.
It is wrong to permit terminations at any time for babies with serious disabilities, including Down’s, cleft lip and club foot, while other foetuses are protected by a 24-week limit, they argue.
Heidi Crowter, 24, a woman with Down’s, has joined Cheryl Bilsborrow, who has a two-year-old with the genetic disorder, to write to Health Secretary Matt Hancock seeking a change to the 1967 Abortion Act to prevent late abortions for all non-fatal disabilities.
Campaigners are challenging the ‘discriminatory’ law that allows abortion for Down’s syndrome up until birth (stock image)
The women, backed by the campaign group Don’t Screen Us Out, are raising £20,000 to take the Government to court over the issue.
Miss Crowter, from Coventry, said: ‘In the UK, babies can be aborted right up to birth if they are considered to be “seriously handicapped”.
‘They include me in that definition – just because I have an extra chromosome! What it says to me is that my life just isn’t as valuable as others.
‘I think it’s downright discrimination.’
In Britain, about nine in ten women have abortions after being given a diagnosis for Down’s, which is linked to delays in growth and intellectual disability.
Campaign group are writing to Health Secretary Matt Hancock (pictured) seeking a change to the 1967 Abortion Act to prevent late abortions for all non-fatal disabilities