Shock: Thousands of UK abortions of disabled and Down syndrome babies

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Shock: Thousands of UK abortions of disabled and Down syndrome babies

In a past I blogged in the past on the contention that “More than 90% of women carrying a child with Down Syndrome choose abortion.” Readers seemed shocked by this information. But, now new statistics have been produced in England after a pro-life organization won its bid to make some abortion numbers public that the government had failed to disclose concerning abortions on disabled babies.
The numbers reveal, thousands of babies victimized by abortion merely because they were mentally or physically disabled — including 500 abortions done on unborn children who have Down syndrome. In total, 2,290 abortions were done on disabled babies with 147 done after 24 weeks of pregnancy.
Here are more details in a report  from LifeNews.com:

The London Daily Mail indicates the statistics for England and Wales came after the Department of Health followed a Freedom of Information Request from the Pro Life Alliance, which won a 5-year battle to make the figures public and the figures are the first in over 10 years. The ways in which disabled babies are targeted by abortion makes it clear why the government was reluctant to make them available.
The abortion numbers showed 482 babies aborted who had Down syndrome, including 10 aborted after 24 weeks; 123 babies who died in abortions with the nervous disorder spina bifida; abortions were done on 181 babies who had a club foot or other musculoskeletal problems, including 8 killed after 24 weeks of pregnancy. Seven babies who had cleft palates were victims of abortion.
“The ProLife Alliance is opposed to all abortion at any stage in pregnancy, but terminating the lives of babies at gestational ages when they could survive is always particularly horrifying,” Millington told the newspaper. “We have always argued that if these abortions are permitted under law, there should be no attempt whatsoever to hide details of the numbers or justifications.”
The new figures also include the number of abortions done on girls under the age of 16, and they reveal 3,718 abortions in England on the young teens, including 2,676 on 15-year-olds, 906 on 14-year-olds, 134 on 13-year-olds and two abortions done on 12-year-old girls who are clearly victims of statutory rape.
The government filed a lawsuit with the High Court to keep secret the details concerning late abortions because of fears that individual women having abortions late in pregnancy will somehow be revealed. The Department of Health challenged a decision the Information Tribunal handed down in October 2009 saying freedom of information laws require all of the abortion statistics to be released — and none of them contain any information to identify any people specifically.
Dr Evan Harris, an abortion advocate who is a member of the British Medical Association medical ethics committee, sided with pro-life campaigner and said it was “hard to see why successive governments” had fought the Information Tribunal decision.
A representative of the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children (SPUC) told LifeNews that the government is wrong to try to cover-up abortion statistics.
Anthony Ozimic, SPUC’s communications manager, commented: “We are very concerned by any attempt at secrecy by the government regarding abortion. It is absolutely vital for the future protection of both unborn children and women that there is complete transparency in official statistics. Secrecy will only serve those doctors authorizing or performing abortions outside the terms of the law, which is already a widespread practice.”
“The fact that the case relates to statistics on the severity of disabilities among aborted unborn children is not strictly relevant to the moral issue. All unborn children, whatever their physical or mental state, have an equal right to life, confirmed by international human rights law,” he said.

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