685 UK Babies Were Killed in Abortions Just Because They Had Down Syndrome

The number of unborn children with a disability who were aborted in England and Wales has increased, according to the latest abortion statistics released by the Department of Health and Social Care.

Abortion statistics released by the Department of Health and Social Care in January revealed that 3,205 disability-selective abortions took place in 2023, an increase of 2.59% from the previous year.

In England and Wales, 685 babies with Down’s syndrome were aborted in 2023, while 40 babies with a cleft lip or palate were aborted.

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Sadly, the figures for cleft lip and palate are likely to be higher; for example, a 2013 review by Eurocat showed 157 babies were aborted with cleft lip and palate in England and Wales between 2006 and 2010. However, the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) recorded only 14 such abortions.

There were 300 late-term abortions for babies with disabilities at 24 weeks and over for residents of England and Wales, an increase of 44 from 2022, when there were 256 disability-selective late-term abortions. This represents a 17.19% increase in late-term abortions for babies with disabilities at 24 weeks and over.

Abortion on the grounds of disability is legal throughout all nine months of pregnancy in every part of the UK. The Abortion Act 1967 provides a number of grounds under which abortion is legal. In regard to disability-selective abortion, Section 1(1)(d) of the Act states abortion is legal when “There is a substantial risk that if the child were born it would suffer from such physical or mental abnormalities as to be seriously handicapped”.

The phrase “seriously handicapped” is interpreted extremely broadly, and in practice, this is interpreted by doctors to include conditions such as Down’s syndrome, cleft lip/cleft palate or club foot. Some of these conditions can be treated after birth. The main treatment to correct a cleft lip is an operation, which is usually done when a baby is 3 to 6 months old, whereas an operation to repair a cleft palate is usually done at 6 to 12 months old. Treatment for a club foot is minimally invasive and is usually achieved using the Ponseti method.

In abortions where the child is not prenatally diagnosed with a disability, and where the life or health of the child’s mother is not threatened, abortion is legal up until 24 weeks gestation. In cases of a disability-selective abortion, where a child is prenatally diagnosed with a disability, abortion is available up until birth.

For unborn babies with a disability, the abortion legislation does not require that there be any risk of injury to the mother or any existing children in her family. Instead, the focus is solely on the ‘risk’ of the baby having a disability.

Disability abortion law in the UK might conflict with non-discrimination law

In 1995, Parliament passed the Disability Discrimination Act. This Act made it a legal offence to discriminate solely on the basis of disability, with discrimination being described as the following: “A person directly discriminates against a disabled person if, on the ground of the disabled person’s disability, he treats the disabled person less favourably than he treats or would treat a person not having that particular disability whose relevant circumstances, including his abilities, are the same as, or not materially different from, those of the disabled person”.

In 2007, the United Kingdom signed up to the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, and ratified this convention in 2009. Article 10 of this convention is titled the “Right To Life” and states, “States Parties reaffirm that every human being has the inherent right to life and shall take all necessary measures to ensure its effective enjoyment by persons with disabilities on an equal basis with others”.

The UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities has recommended the UK update its law on abortion to reflect adherence to the spirit of this convention, specifically suggesting they amend abortion legislation to clarify abortion should not be legal for disability reasons.

Spokesperson for Right To Life UK, Catherine Robinson, said “It is shocking and thoroughly disappointing that 2023 saw an increase in the number of babies who were aborted simply because they had a disability”.

“Disabilities that the law classifies as making an individual ‘seriously handicapped’ include many conditions that do not prohibit an individual from living a full, happy life at all. For these individuals to have their chance at life removed before it has even begun is tragic”.

“Abortion legislation in the UK should be updated to align it with non-discrimination law, to ensure that unborn babies with disabilities are not unfairly discriminated against for the sole reason that they have a disability”.

LifeNews Note: Republished with permission from Right to Life UK.

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