Church warns Down’s screening could lead to Nazi-style eugenics
THE Church of England has urged families to ‘welcome and celebrate’ children with Down’s Syndrome as the NHS introduces a new screening programme.
The General Synod backed moves to prevent the tests being used to justify more abortions of babies with Down’s.
The NHS is preparing to launch the new screening system, Non-Invasive Prenatal Testing, for all women considered to be at ‘high risk’ of having a Down’s child. The current invasive test carries a 1 per cent chance of miscarriage.
Members of the Synod – the Church’s parliament – warned the new testing could lead to Nazi-style eugenics in which almost all babies with Down’s would be aborted. It voted unanimously to back a motion calling for Down’s babies to be ‘treated with dignity and respect’. The Church said women who learn their unborn child has Down’s should be given comprehensive and unbiased information on the condition, which affects around one in 1,000 babies, amid fears that families could be steered towards abortion.
Lay churchgoer Andrew Gray told the Synod: ‘We live in a society that claims to value and appreciate those who are different and those who have a disability and yet what we say and do are two different things. The UK and Europe have begun to practice eugenics, by default, and without intent. This is not because of a state-led desire to remove those considered weak or subhuman – we don’t live in 1930s Germany, thank God. But while the reasons and motivations are different, the outcome is the same.’
Reverend Rachel Wilson, herself a wheelchair user, said: ‘It is not for me to dictate to any parent what choices they make when facing a diagnosis of Down’s, but I do think that we need to remove the link between capacity and whether life is really worth living.
‘What I do know is that being born with a disability is not a disaster.’
The Bishop of Carlisle, the
‘Disability is not a disaster’
Right Reverend James Newcombe, added: ‘People with Down’s Syndrome are complete human beings, made in the image of God, deserving full inclusion in both Church and Society. It is imperative that every step is taken to ensure that they are welcomed, celebrated and treated with dignity and respect.’
He said the Church, which maintains a ‘strong opposition’ to abortion, should not press for a ban on terminations of Down’s Syndrome pregnancies, adding: ‘Although the motion has been prompted by some people’s concern that the abortion rate for those diagnosed with Down’s Syndrome could increase to nearly 100 per cent, the rights and wrongs of abortion itself are not part of our discussion.’