Dublin hospital chief backs abortion for Down’s syndrome

Abortion for unborn babies believed to have Down’s syndrome should be legalised in Ireland, the CEO of the nation’s busiest maternity hospital has said.

Professor Sean Daly, Master of the Rotunda in Dublin, also called for the three-day reflection period before having an abortion to be scrapped.

Most recent figures from the Department of Health show that 10,033 abortions were carried out in 2023, 23 per cent more than the previous year.

Liberalisation

In an interview for The Irish Times, Prof Daly said: “If you discover your baby is having Down syndrome and you want to interrupt the pregnancy, then you inevitably have to travel abroad.”

He argued that “there has been too much of a focus” on what people living with the chromosomal condition “contribute to society”. Backing a change in the law on abortion for Down’s syndrome, he added: “We need to understand that people make choices and respect those choices”.

In 2023, 98 per cent of abortions were performed before twelve weeks. Just 28 abortions were performed to prevent a risk to life or “serious harm” to the mother’s health.

Existing tests can detect Down’s with up to 99 per cent accuracy, and it has been estimated that in the US, UK and Europe around 90-92 percent of the unborn diagnosed with the condition are aborted.

Saving lives

Prof Daly also said that women who have decided to have an abortion should not be ‘forced’ to wait another three days before getting an abortion.

But writing in the Irish Independent last year, columnist Sarah Carey said those “precious few days” in the midst of a crisis may have already enabled thousands of pregnant mothers to choose life for their unborn child.

Referring to Health and Safety Executive figures for 2023, Carey noted that at least 2,000 women attended a consultation but did subsequently not return for an abortion.

Six years ago, the Irish public voted to repeal the Constitution’s Eighth Amendment – a key constitutional protection from abortion for the unborn child. The reflection period was included to encourage more people to back the change.

O’Shea report

In 2023, a Government-commissioned review led by barrister Marie O’Shea recommended that access to abortion should be made even easier nationwide.

O’Shea recommended scrapping the current three-day reflection period and suggested the HSE recruit more pro-abortion GPs.

The barrister also implied that non-invasive prenatal tests – which have been shown to raise the abortion rate for children with Down’s syndrome – should be made available through the public health system.