Abortion Statistics Reveal Targeting of Babies with Down Syndrome

26.05.2016

Forty Irish babies were aborted in Britain last year because they were diagnosed with Down Syndrome. Overall, 135 women from the Republic had abortions in the UK on grounds that the babies were at risk of serious disability.
 
These included nine abortions after a diagnosis of spina bifida and one due to cystic fibrosis. Other abortions included 13 babies from Ireland diagnosed with Edward’s syndrome and seven with anencephaly, the annual statistics from the UK's Department of Health revealed.
 
In total, 3,213 abortions were approved because the baby had a medical condition. In almost half of these cases it was a congenital malformation, and in 689 cases the baby was found to have Down Syndrome.
 
Over one in three of the women from Ireland (1,311) gave a Dublin address. Some 280 were from Cork, 156 from Galway and 147 from Kildare. Nearly one in five had a previous abortion.