Three babies aborted every day due to Down syndrome

A study shows the number of terminations has more than trebled in the last 20 years. An increasing number of pregnant women are being told their babies have the condition because of a growing number of women putting off having children until their 30s and 40s and improvements in screening, doctors say. And around nine in ten women who are told they are going to have a baby with the problem opt for a termination.

The figures showed that diagnoses of Down syndrome increased from 1,075 in 1989/90 to 1,843 in 2007/8. Yet the numbers of babies born with the condition fell by one per cent from 752 to 743. If women were not screened for the condition the number of babies born with Down syndrome would have increased by half and would now have reached 1,422 in a year in England and Wales.

Frank Buckley, chief executive of Down Syndrome Education International said: "People with Down syndrome are living longer and achieving more than ever before and it is reassuring to know that they will be continuing to make valued contributions to our communities for years to come. "These figures should be a wake-up call to policy-makers to focus more effort on improving education, healthcare and adult support for the rapidly growing population of citizens who have Down syndrome."

Peter Elliott, Chairman of The Down Syndrome Research Foundation, who has a 24-year-old son David with Down Syndrome, said: "Why are the abortions at such a high rate unless they have been given the impression the situation was terrible and it warranted an abortion? I don't think the choice is presented to the parents in the light of the true situation where the children have a good life and are in fact viewed as a blessing to the parents, not a curse, and I don't think these parents getting the abortions know much about Down syndrome at all." Telegraph