From the (UK) Daily Mail:

The law governing the abortion of “seriously handicapped” babies should be made clearer, an influential committee of MPs [members of Parliament] is to say.

An inquiry will call for a clearer definition of disability, amid claims that growing numbers of fetuses are being aborted for conditions that can be cured.

The [House of] Commons science and technology committee is investigating whether the legal limit for abortion should be cut from 24 weeks of pregnancy, and whether a medical definition of disability is needed for late terminations.

Next month the committee will call for a rethink on disability after hearing that doctors were divided, sources told the Evening Standard.

Between 2002 and 2005, 117 babies with club feet, cleft palates or lips, or webbed or extra fingers and toes were aborted in a single region of the England - the South-West. More than 400 pregnancies a year are terminated because of Down’s syndrome - a condition campaigners insist is highly manageable.

Most of these abortions took place before the 24-week limit, but the procedure can be performed until birth if there is a “substantial risk” the baby will suffer a “serious handicap”. However the law does not define “serious” and leaves the decision to doctors.

… There are also concerns about the advice given to women carrying foetuses with disabilities. A London clinic for children with Down’s syndrome told the inquiry women were “expected” to have a termination and questioned repeatedly if they chose otherwise.

See another story here.

This entry was posted on Monday, October 29th, 2007 at 12:27 pm and is filed under Down syndrome, abortion, prenatal diagnosis. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.  Email This Post