The mother of a young boy with Down syndrome is pushing for abortion limits in the United Kingdom in order to protect preborn children diagnosed with the condition. Cheryl Bilsborrow spoke to the BBC News about how doctors offered her an abortion when she was nearly full term. Bilsborrow had felt pressured to test for Down syndrome early in her pregnancy. When the results showed that her baby boy Hector did have Down syndrome, she was offered an abortion, even up to just two days before giving birth.
“[I was even] offered a termination at full-term on the Friday and [was] giving birth to him on the Sunday,” she explained. “She [the medical professional] turned around and said to me, ‘You do know we still terminate babies with Down’s syndrome at 38 weeks?’ I said, ‘Well I’ll pretend I didn’t hear that,’ because I was completely blown away, shocked, and disgusted.”
UK Mum offered abortion at 38-weeks for son with with Down’s syndrome ?
Posted by Right To Life UK on Monday, February 24, 2020
She called Hector “beautiful” and said he has a modeling career and a big fan base.
“At the end of the day, it’s just no difference whatsoever and nobody should be put into that category of being different, because at the end of the day, we’re in 2020,” she said.
According to the BBC, abortions are legal in the UK during the first 24 weeks of pregnancy but only with the approval of two doctors who have agreed that the pregnancy poses more risk to the mother’s physical or mental health than an abortion would. Abortions are legal after 24 weeks only if the woman’s life is in danger, if there is a severe prenatal diagnosis, or if the woman is at risk of physical or mental injury from the pregnancy. In reality, abortion — the deliberate killing of a preborn child — is not medically necessary to protect the mother’s health or life.
READ: Couple wins wrongful birth settlement after daughter is born with Down syndrome
Abortions due to a fetal diagnosis are discriminatory. This is why Bilsborrow is campaigning to end abortion after 24 weeks for babies diagnosed with a health condition such as Down syndrome.
“All babies – and children – should be treated equal,” she said.
Along with Bilsborrow, Liz Crowter and her daughter Heidi, who has Down syndrome, also spoke with the BBC about the abortion law allowing the killing of preborn children solely based on a diagnosis of Down syndrome. Heidi told the BBC that the law is “deeply offensive” to her and it made her feel “unloved and unwanted.”
Her mother added that she believes the law must be changed to reflect that “all babies in the womb are treated the same.”
In the United States, abortion is legal at any time for a child with Down syndrome or other health condition, and in Iceland, the complete eradication of babies with Down syndrome through abortion has been celebrated as a win.
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