84% Increase in Down’s Syndrome Abortions in Scotland and the Call for Urgent Inquiry

Abortion statistics released by Public Health Scotland show that there has been an 84% increase in the number of abortions where a baby has Down’s syndrome, from 32 in 2021 to 59 in 2022. The roll-out of new NIPT (Non-Invasive Pre-Natal) tests by NHS Scotland appears to be having an impact on the number of terminations. Don’t Screen Us Out is calling on the Government to undertake an urgent inquiry to review the impact that Non-Invasive Pre-Natal tests on the NHS in Scotland are having on the number of babies with Down’s syndrome who are screened out by termination in Scotland each year.

Impact of Screening and Underreporting

An investigation by The Sunday Times found that the number of babies born with Down’s syndrome has fallen by 30% in NHS hospitals that have introduced this form of screening. The figures, which were released by 26 hospital trusts in England under freedom of information laws, account for about a fifth of the hospital trusts that offer maternity services. They show that more women who have the new test go on to have abortions.

The following data highlights the recent trends and discrepancies in reporting:

• Abortions in Scotland (2021): 32
• Abortions in Scotland (2022): 59
• Increase in Scotland: 84%
• Fall in births in hospitals with NIPT: 30%
• Underreporting example (2010): 886 abortions for Down’s syndrome occurred in England and Wales, but only 482 were reported.

The actual number of abortions for Down’s syndrome are possibly higher than reported due to underreporting of disability abortion statistics. The underreporting was confirmed by a 2014 Department of Health and Social Care review.

Current Abortion Law and Landmark Legal Case

Currently in England, Wales and Scotland, there is a general 24-week time limit for abortion, but if the baby has a disability, including Down’s syndrome, cleft lip and club foot, abortion is legal right up to birth. A woman with Down’s syndrome has announced that she will be taking her landmark case against the current discriminatory abortion law, which allows abortion up to birth for Down’s syndrome, to the European Court of Human Rights.

Heidi Crowter, a 27-year-old woman from Coventry who has Down’s syndrome is challenging the UK Government over a disability clause in the current law. She is a self-advocate who has publicly campaigned for the last six years for equal treatment for those with Down’s syndrome in all areas of life. Heidi has been joined in her fight for justice by Máire Lea-Wilson from Brentford, West London, whose three-year-old son Aidan has Down’s syndrome. Máire Lea-Wilson was placed under pressure to have an abortion when a 34-week scan revealed her son had Down’s syndrome.

International Human Rights and Recommendations

The UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities has consistently criticised countries that provide for abortion on the basis of disability. The Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities’ concluding observations on the initial report of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland made a key recommendation that the UK change its abortion law so that it does not single out babies with disabilities. The Government has decided to ignore this recommendation.

The Disability Rights Commission (now the Equality and Human Rights Commission) has said that this aspect of the Abortion Act “is offensive to many people; it reinforces negative stereotypes of disability…[and] is incompatible with valuing disability and non-disability equally”. The 2013 Parliamentary Inquiry into Abortion for Disability found the vast majority of those who gave evidence believed allowing abortion up to birth on the grounds of disability is discriminatory, contrary to the spirit of the Equality Act 2010 and that it affects wider public attitudes towards discrimination.

The European Court of Human Rights could find the UK’s current disability abortion law to be in violation of human rights, which could not only have implications for the United Kingdom but also set a legal precedent for all forty-six countries that are members of the Council of Europe.