Dear Mr Ryall,
Right to Life upholds the right to life of babies diagnosed with Down syndrome. Human life commences at conception, each human being is a unique and unrepeatable miracle of God’s loving creation. At conception the human embryo is endowed by its creator with human rights, the foundation right being the right to life. These rights are inalienable and universal. A child does not forfeit its right to life because it is diagnosed with Down syndrome; tricemy 21.The killing of the unborn child with Down syndrome is the ultimate discrimination against the “disabled”.
It is understood that it is the normal procedure for clinicians in the public health sector when a pregnant woman is diagnosed as having an unborn child with Down syndrome, to offer the woman an abortion. Right to Life believes that this advice is both unethical and unlawful
The Abortion Supervisory Committee in its report to Parliament in 2009 advised that there were 22 abortions authorised on the grounds of seriously handicapped child. There were a further 100 abortions authorised for handicapped child and physical or mental danger. As there are no published statistics for abortions authorised on the grounds that the child had been diagnosed with Down syndrome it is not known how many Down syndrome babies were killed in 2008.
The United States Centre for Disease Control in Atlanta, states that the classification for Down syndrome is mild to moderate disability. Most children with Down syndrome participate in public and private educational programs. Educators and researchers are still discovering the full educational potential of people with Down syndrome. Today people with Down syndrome live at home with their families and are active participants in the educational, social and recreational activities of their community. People with Down syndrome are valued members of their families and their communities, contributing to society in a variety of ways. Women who have an unborn child diagnosed with Down syndrome need and deserve the support and compassion of the community to accept their child as a valued and loved member of the family and community.
The Crimes Act 1961, s 182 “ killing unborn child” states that to kill an unborn child in New Zealand is a serious crime and on conviction a person may be imprisoned for a term of up to 14 years. Abortions are excused for rare and serious reasons. under the Crimes Act. s 187A, [1] [aa], states that an abortion may be authorised on the following ground, “That there is a substantial risk that the child, if born, would be so physically or mentally abnormal as to be seriously handicapped…”This ground relates to a pregnancy of not more that 20 weeks gestation.
- It is noted that the test for that section is that the handicap is serious. As the clinical definition for Down syndrome is a mild to moderate disability it is contended that Down syndrome does not meet the threshold of being serious.
- It is thus our opinion that; it is unlawful for certifying consultants to authorise an abortion or for doctors to perform an abortion for Down Syndrome, on the grounds of fetal abnormality as set out in the Crimes Act 1961, s [1] [aa].
- It is contended that it is therefore both unethical and unlawful for clinicians or staff to offer an expectant mother diagnosed with Down syndrome a termination of the life of her unborn child.
The government in February is introducing a new screening programme for Down syndrome and several other disabilities. It has been called a “quality improvement” rather than a national screening programme. The government states that it is providing a service to families by giving them a choice whether to terminate the life of the child with Down syndrome or to allow the child to be born.
Has the government decided that children with Down syndrome are not valued or wanted in our community? Is it the government’s intention to encourage families to abort children with Down syndrome? Right to Life believes that the option to terminate the life of the child will ultimately become a duty to kill the child before birth.
In conclusion our Society requests that the government takes steps to promote respect and acceptance for persons with Down syndrome by ensuring that clinicians and medical staff in our public hospitals do not offer an abortion on the grounds of fetal abnormality for unborn children diagnosed with Down syndrome.
Yours sincerely
Ken Orr
Secretary
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Dear Ken,
I completely agree with your comments about aborting babies with Downs Syndrome. It is illegal for a school to refuse enrollment of a student based on whether or not they have a disability. I believe it should similarly be illegal for a child to be aborted because they have a disability.
In the December 2009 edition of the Treasures magazine is a lovely article about a dad whose child was unexpectedly born with Downs Syndrome. The article tells of his initial shock and his more recent acceptance and love of his child.
I think we need to be careful about urging ultrasound images of the unborn for precisely that reason. What if such a scan shows that the unborn child has Downs Syndrome or signs of another intellectual disability
“That there is a substantial risk that the child, if born, would be so physically or mentally abnormal as to be seriously handicapped…” This ground relates to a pregnancy of not more that 20 weeks gestation.
There are countless stories of doctors giving unduly pessimistic predictions about how disabled a child will be after birth (which the child disproves later) so how can they tell before birth? Even if the child is so severrly abnormal that they are going to die at birth or just live a short life, why should their lives be any less worthwhile than that of a normal child who dies at a young age from illness or accident. I’m sure it is rare for a parent in the latter situations to wish they had aborted the child rather than go through the current suffering. Instead they are thankful for the time they had with their child and bemoan the fact that it wasn’t longer. How come these children would be considered “too young to die” but babies in the womb are not? And what about the babies who are aborted after 20 weeks? Why hasn’t anyone been arrested for their murder if this is illegal?
Since our babies with “abnormalities”, along with those conceived via rape and incest, are used as an excuse to legalise abortion I think the only way to stop abortion is to strongly defend the right of these babies to life. If they have a right to protection before birth, then so does every other baby no matter how inconvenient the pregnancy is.