LIFE, the UK’s leading pro-life charity, has today denounced targets set by the UK National Screening Committee, to improve the accuracy of scans seeking out Down’s babies, as ‘barbaric’.
LIFE spokesperson and trustee, Nuala Scarisbrick, says: ‘Committee member Professor Cameron claims to want to standardise scans around the country. But this is just spin. The truth behind this headline is that they want ever more effective and accurate ways to get rid of ‘imperfect’ babies.
‘Most people believe it is unacceptable to discriminate against people on the ground of disability; this is discrimination on a mass scale. But what is equally alarming is that the Committee is claiming that a 3% ‘false positive’ rate would represent progress! This means that 3% of babies scanned for Down’s would actually be aborted when they are, in fact, perfectly healthy babies. What kind of progress is this?
‘There is no need to eliminate children with special needs from our society by pursuing a programme of eugenic abortion in this way. Whilst they can be undeniably challenging for families, they bring with them their own special gifts and should be as much a part of society as anyone else.
‘I’m not sure if people really know what’s going on and the sheer scale of abortions which take place on the ground of disability. It is a tragic waste of precious life and an experience from which the mother will find it hard to recover. Let’s try another way.
‘Zoë’s Place baby hospices care for babies with multiple special needs and life-limiting or life-threatening conditions – this is the way forward and a way worthy of a compassionate and civilised society. Zoë’s Place provides the support and the care that families and children affected by conditions like Down’s need.
Visit www.zoes-place.org.uk to learn more about these unique hospices.