Revised figures from the Department of Health reveal that the number of abortions of children with Down’s syndrome has increased by 50 per cent in the last ten years.
Figures released in June stated that 632 Down’s babies were aborted in 2017. Additional information has now revealed this number to be 655.
Latest figures for Great Britian reveal that around 92 per cent of pregnancies where Down’s syndrome is identified result in abortion.
Disability screening
Figures have risen by half, from 437 abortions of Down’s babies in 2007.
Campaign group Don’t Screen Us Out blame developments in Non-Invasive Prenatal Testing (NIPT) – otherwise known as cfDNA testing – which can pick up the condition in the womb.
They said: “This situation is set to get far worse as the Government still intends to move ahead with proposals to implement cfDNA testing”.
“Proponents of the test have glossed over the fact that a National Screening Committee pilot study predicts the new screening will detect 102 more babies with Down’s syndrome every year.”
Pushed towards abortion
Others fear that women are being “pushed towards” abortions by medical professionals.
The Society for the Protection of Unborn Children said: “NIPT testing has already been found to have exacerbated discriminatory attitudes towards babies with Down’s syndrome which are still prevalent in the medical profession.
“One mother was told by a midwife that ‘the purpose of the test is for terminations’ and the Welsh Government was forced to scrap a leaflet given to women who chose to have the screening after it was criticised for overly focusing on the medical problems their baby was likely to face”.