The news on right-to-life issues in the United Kingdom
Peter D. Williams
The last two months in the UK have seen the beginning of the We’re All Equal campaign, which supports the Abortion (Disability Equality) Bill. This Bill, introduced by disabled peer Lord Shinkwin, would repeal section 1(1)(d) of the Abortion Act 1967, which allows for abortion for disability up-to-birth. The Bill was debated at Second Reading, and has passed on to Committee Stage.
Sadly, after eight months of delay, the Government has finally agreed to implement cell-free DNA (cfDNA) screening into the British National Health Service’s Fetal Anomaly Screening Programme (FASP) by 2018. This is being opposed by the Don’t Screen Us Out campaign, which has pointed to the fact that 90% of unborn babies detected with Down’s syndrome are aborted, and this new test would increase the numbers of such children screened out before birth. Don’t Screen Us Out are aiming for a judicial review of this decision.
Relatedly, the callous call by the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists for the UK’s National Screening Committee to calculate the cost of looking after people with Down’s syndrome across their lives, relative to implementing new NIPT screening, has been criticised by an open letter of over 300 medical professionals.
Finally, the new Humanity and Equality in Abortion Reform (HEAR) campaign has started on the Isle of Man, in response to calls for already restrictive Manx laws to be made more permissive.
Peter D. Williams
