The current debate comes on the heels of a Parliamentary Inquiry launched by MP Fiona Bruce into whether the Abortion Act 1967 unjustly discriminates against disabled babies by permitting abortion up to birth on disability grounds. Currently, the United Kingdom has a gestational law prohibiting abortions past 24 weeks for other reasons.
We read here that,
“The Inquiry concluded that the law on abortion for disability could fall foul of both the 2010 Equality Act and UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, which states that a child “needs special safeguards and care, including appropriate legal protection, before as well as after birth.”
A report on the findings of the Inquiry revealed that:
The Inquiry recommended Parliament to remove the discriminatory aspects of the Act either by repealing section 1(1)(d), which permits terminations on disability grounds, or as a minimum, reducing the upper limit for disability abortions to make it equal to that of abortion on other grounds.
Let’s hope the UK Parliament will listen to this courageous MP and reviews the eugenic practice of terminating pregnancies on the basis of ability.
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