A mother from south-west London has revealed how she had to fight to give birth to her son who doctors wanted to abort after he was diagnosed with Down’s Syndrome. “We were put on a pathway without a choice really… We really hope it’s different for people now.”

Natalie O’Rourke is from Teddington in south-west London, where she helps children with disabilities to ride horses.

Ten years ago, when Natalie became pregnant, tests revealed that her son Woody had Down’s Syndrome. Following the diagnosis, she felt pressured by doctors to have an abortion.

“It was very frightening, and it was like we were put on a pathway without a choice really. I mean this happened 10 years ago, so we really hope it’s different for people now”, said Natalie.

“They called me to tell me the baby had Down’s Syndrome”, she recounts. “‘We are just confirming your appointment for tomorrow’, and I said, ‘I don’t have an appointment for tomorrow, I think you have the wrong person’, and I realised they had booked me in for a termination [an abortion] the following day…

“And I said I won’t be coming, you can cancel that appointment, but she said, ‘No, we will keep the appointment just in case you change your mind.’”

Natalie already had a child at the time, a daughter, but she wonders whether she might have succumbed to the pressure to abort Woody if she had been a first-time mum: “I might of thought that I would have to go along with that and might not have realised that there was a choice.”

While Natalie is happy that she did not allow doctors to abort her son, she is still “sickened” by what happened and how she was made to feel that Woody “would be a drain on society…

“It’s like his life would have no value, and actually Woody is a life enhancer, he enhances everyone’s life that he meets.”

Appearing on ITV’s This Morning show on 21 March, marking World Down Syndrome Day, Natalie said: “I really hope that a decade later things are changing, but I want to get a strong message out there… Don’t be afraid of Down’s syndrome, there is so much love and kindness out there…

“I remember holding him [Woody] in my arms for the first time, and he was crying and I was so happy he was healthy, and I thought, ‘I fought for you and now you’re here.’”

Children with Down’s Syndrome still targeted

Last November, Heidi Crowter lost her case at the Court of Appeal, as reported by SPUC, after she sought a change to the UK law that currently allows babies with Down’s Syndrome to be aborted up until birth. Heidi has slammed the law as “downright discrimination”.

“I am very upset that babies with Down’s Syndrome can be aborted up to birth”, commented Heidi, who also has the condition. “This [ruling] tells me that I am not valued and of much less value than a person without Down’s Syndrome… [It] makes me feel that I am not as valuable as a person without Down’s Syndrome.”

In 2021, Richard Dawkins, the famous ethologist and evolutionary biologist, said “it would be wise and sensible” to abort a baby with Down’s Syndrome.

Mothers have also repeatedly reported how they felt pressured by medical staff to abort babies with Down’s Syndrome.

One mum, Emma Mellor, has related that she was offered abortion 15 times, “even though we made it really clear that it wasn’t an option for us… They really seemed to push and really seemed to want us to terminate [have the abortion].”

Another mother, Máire Lea-Wilson, was offered abortion three times for her unborn baby diagnosed with Down’s Syndrome. “During this time of great vulnerability, I was told that my child would not be able to live independently… Within the context of this fear, vulnerability, and biased information, I was offered an abortion three times…

“Aidan is now 16 months old…He is a joy, and I am so incredibly proud of him. I would not change a single thing about him.”

“Downright discrimination”

SPUC’s Michael Robinson, Executive Director (Public Affairs and Legal Services), said: “Discrimination against babies with Down’s Syndrome is enshrined in law, resulting in many mothers feeling pressured to abort their unborn children. Many such babies have sadly been aborted because of this societal prejudice.

“This is a disgraceful situation, which is even more outrageous in a society that claims to oppose discrimination. But many medical professionals go out of their way to make mothers feel that babies with Down’s Syndrome are not wanted and are a burden.

“The message that this also sends to people with Down’s Syndrome, of any age, is much the same. Far from being inclusive, our society, backed by law, singles out individuals with Down’s Syndrome for destruction.

“What Natalie and other parents go through, when doctors assume or suppose that an unborn child with Down’s Syndrome must necessarily be aborted, should never happen. The mere assumption is offensive and a prejudiced act. As Heidi Crowter rightly states, it is ‘downright discrimination’.”