Abortions of unborn children diagnosed with Down’s syndrome have surged by 80 per cent in Scotland in just four years, official statistics show.
Abortions of unborn babies with Down’s syndrome increased from 33 in 2021 to 60 in 2024, when there was a record high of 18,710 abortions in Scotland – an increase of 3 per cent in twelve months.
Following the Public Health Scotland data release, SPUC CEO John Deighan said: “These are devastating statistics, and they should chill us all… Every single abortion represents a tragic loss of human life and potential.”
Almost 90 per cent of babies prenatally diagnosed with Down’s syndrome in England and Wales (and Crown Dependencies) were aborted in 2021 – 973 unborn deaths in total – according to NHS statistics.
108 babies with a cleft lip/palate were also aborted, and 53 babies with a club foot.
A 2021 study estimated that over 50 per cent fewer babies diagnosed with Down’s syndrome have been born in Europe in recent years, enabled in part by non-invasive prenatal screening.
Many parents have reported feeling pressured by medics to abort their unborn children following a Down’s syndrome diagnosis.
In one such case, Máire Lea-Wilson was offered abortion three times. “During this time of great vulnerability, I was told that my child would not be able to live independently”, she said. “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.”
Responding to this week’s release of Scottish abortion statistics, Lynn Murray, a campaigner for Down’s syndrome children, said: “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…
“As a mother of a 25-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.”
In an article published in the European Conservative, SPUC’s Daniel Frampton said: “A schizophrenic mania is at large in the West that claims to cherish and protect vulnerable individuals and groups while at the same time killing many of them behind the closed doors of the home and clinic…
“In the age of identity, when so-called ‘victimised’ groups gain special protections from the state and a culture that elevates minorities over the majority, the singling out of unborn children with disabilities is accepted and encouraged.”
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