Tuesday 5 July 2011

SPUC's disability rights division speaks out about latest abortion statistics

Janet Thomas of No Less Human, a group within SPUC which represents disabled people, has kindly sent me her reaction to yesterday's publication by the Department of Health of detailed statistics of abortions performed on the ground of disability:
"No Less Human (SPUC’s disability rights division) sometimes hears from mothers who, after a diagnosis of disability for their unborn children, are put under great psychological pressure to have an abortion. These mothers are not treated with compassion by the medical profession, because they have not made the ‘politically correct’ choice; they suffer greatly for the remainder of their pregnancies. It is not surprising if many women succumb to the pressure to have an abortion. One mother, who spoke to our coordinator Alison Davis, who has spina bifida, told her: 'They told me that my baby has spina bifida, but no-one will tell me what spina bifida is!' Real knowledge of disability and contact with disabled people is not part of the decision-making process once a pregnant woman is given the news of her baby’s disability. In fact, a very black view of the child’s future is usually painted. One of our members was told that her baby would have a head like a banana and would not survive birth. He has now grown up, moved into his own flat and is training for a job."
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