We cannot allow abortion on grounds of disability

WE ARE families of children with disabilities, or people living with a disability, and we are asking Simon Harris to amend the abortion bill to ensure that abortion on disability grounds is outlawed in Ireland.

We are asking that the bill be amended by adding this head to the current proposal: “A procedure to terminate a pregnancy shall be unlawful if carried out solely on the ground that the foetus is diagnosed as having or is apprehended as having a disability.”

Speaking at the Citizens’ Assembly, Dr Peter McParland, of the National Maternity Hospital, observed that not one baby with Down syndrome had been born in Iceland over a four-year period.

In Germany, the law does not specify that abortion can be carried out on the grounds of a disability, but, just as in the current proposal, neither is it outlawed. More than 90pc of babies diagnosed with Down syndrome in Germany are aborted on grounds of a threat to the mental health of the woman, and a similar clause is also included in the Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy Bill.

This trend is not confined to babies diagnosed with Down syndrome. Three studies examining abortion after a prognosis of spina bifida showed that between 66pc and 78pc of babies were aborted across Europe, while studies also suggest that 47pc of babies diagnosed with congenital heart disease have their lives ended by abortion.

Surely, as a compassionate, progressive nation, these heart-breaking outcomes should give us pause? We have yet to hear one valid reason as to why the amendment we propose should not be included.

Vicky Wall Address with editor