On Tuesday, “Everybody Loves Raymond” actress Patricia Heaton blasted a CBS report detailing how Iceland is “on pace to virtually eliminate Down syndrome through abortion.” On Twitter, Heaton clarified that Iceland is not actually “eliminating” children with Down syndrome, but killing them in the womb. Heaton is adamantly pro-life, and she often defends human life and human dignity on her social media platforms.
Iceland isn’t actually eliminating Down Syndrome. They’re just killing everybody that has it. Big difference. #Downsyndrome #abortion https://t.co/gAONIzqRXW
— Patricia Heaton (@PatriciaHeaton) August 15, 2017
According to the report, nearly 100 percent of women in Iceland who have children diagnosed in utero with Down syndrome are choosing abortion. CBS News states:
Since prenatal screening tests were introduced in Iceland in the early 2000s, the vast majority of women — close to 100 percent — who received a positive test for Down syndrome terminated their pregnancy.
While the tests are optional, the government states that all expectant mothers must be informed about availability of screening tests, which reveal the likelihood of a child being born with Down syndrome. Around 80 to 85 percent of pregnant women choose to take the prenatal screening test, according to Landspitali University Hospital in Reykjavik.
Dr. Peter McParland, an obstetrician from the National Maternity Hospital, told the Citizens Assembly the heartbreaking reality of what legal abortion has wrought in countries where it is permitted for children diagnosed with disabilities.
“In Britain, 90% of babies with Down’s Syndrome are aborted before birth. In Iceland, every single baby, 100% of all those diagnosed with Down’s Syndrome, are aborted. There hasn’t been a baby with Down’s Syndrome born in Iceland in the past five years.”
Denmark is following suit, and is expected to be “Down’s Syndrome-free” by 2030 and these cold and chilling statistics show us exactly where legal abortion is leading the rest of Europe.
Legal abortion is leading us to a “Down’s Syndrome-free” world. I can barely type the words. It is utterly heart-breaking. Little wonder that, in Britain, Lord Shinkwin – a member of the House of Lords who has a congenital disability – last week gave a powerful speech pointing out, “the writing is on the wall for people like me. People with congenital disabilities are facing extinction.”
