A 24-year-old British woman with Down syndrome is urging the government to change the current law so that unborn children with her genetic condition can’t be targeted with abortion.
Heidi Crowter, a political activist with Down syndrome, joined forces earlier this year with British mom Cheryl Bilsborrow in a lawsuit against the government over the abortion law in England, Wales and Scotland. (Bilsborrow has a child with Down syndrome.)
Although British abortion law is generally more restrictive than that in the U.S. – there is a 24-week-limit in the U.K. – it allows abortions up to the moment of birth if the baby has a disability, including Down syndrome, cleft lip or club foot.
Crowter and Bilsborrow have raised more than $50,000 USD on a crowdfunding website for their legal fees.
“Babies can be aborted right up to birth if they are considered to be ‘seriously handicapped,” Crowter said in a press release. “They include me in that definition of being seriously handicapped – just because I have an extra chromosome! Can you believe that? What it says to me is that my life just isn’t as valuable as others, and I don’t think that’s right. I think it’s downright discrimination.”
The United Nations Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, she noted, has criticized nations that allow abortion on the basis of disabilities.
Crowter’s campaign…
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