Girl challenging abortion law on grounds of disability

[User273648]

I've name changed for this. A girl is challenging the right to abortion on the grounds of disability as she has Downs. I'd be really interested in opinions.

Personally, I have a cousin who has Downs. She is low functioning (the girl challenging is clearly high functioning as she lives alone supported by carers). My aunt and uncle struggle with it. My aunt admitted once that she had cried for the first two years. They found out at birth. She obviously loves her daughter but given the choice of the same child not having Downs' Syndrome she would wish for that.

Obviously this a very sensitive topic - I'm not intending to upset anyone...just listen to other points of view.

YABU - the law should be changed so it's equal regardless of disability
YANBU - the law should stay similar to how it currently is.

www.dsrf-uk.org/downrightdiscriminationcase/

If you support a woman’s right to bodily autonomy then that’s absolute. The alternative is forced birth which is abhorrent.

I don't agree that the law should change.
I'm not sure at what point you would be able to test for downs or other disabilities during pregnancy, presumably this is when you would tell the mother and she could make a decision. The fact that some people with downs are high functioning and have very supportive families doesn't mean that women shouldn't have the right to choose whether they would be able to care for a disabled child or not.

I don't think I would continue with a pregnancy knowing the child was disabled because I wouldn't have the resources to care for them properly. It would obviously be a really difficult decision though

It is her body at the end of the day and her right over it cannot be taken away.

If you support a woman’s right to bodily autonomy then that’s absolute. The alternative is forced birth which is abhorrent

This.
I don’t want the law to change.
My sister has Down’s syndrome.

What @AnneLovesGilbert said.

The legal challenge situation is obviously very sensitive and personal and entails a young woman taking legal action with the extensive support (legal, financial, etc) of interested organisations.

Complicated.

It’s a hard one as it’s very much a spectrum condition isn’t it - some are minimally affected and others have both physical and learning impairments so for that reason alone it’s not straightforward at all.

Why do people choose to fight the easy target? Instead of reducing family planning choices, why not campaign for greater inclusivity? I shall never understand how someone, anyone, can believe their personal circumstances are so important as to impinge on absolutely everyone.

Without being put in that situation it’s hard to know what’s right. Certainly aborting a child at 24 weeks is extreme and I wonder how many women actually chose to do this.
You cannot really foresee how sever the Down’s syndrome (or any condition) will be until you have that child in your arms. Just because this 1 person lives a fulfilling life with Down’s syndrome doesn’t mean that this will be the case for everyone.
Taking a woman’s right to chose away could lead to back street abortions or more children ending up in the care system

Is she challenging the law based on the cut off being 23 weeks but for some disabilities it's higher?

The way to equalise could be raise the limit for all rather than lower it for disabilities.

You need to summarise what change she is suggesting. It’s not clear from your post.

What Greyish said

Because

A girl is challenging the right to abortion on the grounds of disability as she has Downs.

I thought this meant she wanted to have an abortion and read the OP 3 times and still couldn't make head nor tail of it.

I think the case is quite dangerous and would wonder who is really is control of bringing it. Women don’t have late stage abortions for shits and giggles. 20 week scans often don’t take place at 20 weeks exactly and there has to be time for women to make difficult decisions after bad news. They might need follow-up scans, additional appointments etc.

Yes a decision to abort on grounds of disability probably is technically discriminatory but it is also a practical decision as unpalatable as that sounds. I have a friend with a child with profound disabilities that didn’t appear on scans. Her life has been affected in ways she could never have imagined and the child will never be able to live independently and experiences a lot of pain. While she loves her child dearly, she would have aborted had she known. For every child that is high functioning, there will be another one who will struggle well into adulthood and have a low quality of life.

This is such a complex issue. The abortion age should be one age regardless of disability from a right to life point of view. However I also Believe women need autonomy over their own bodies so should be able to abort anytime. Maybe In fact all women should be able to abort all babies anytime rather then be restricted. Regardless of health or ability.

Maybe In fact all women should be able to abort all babies anytime rather then be restricted

Just to clarify for those posters who are confused here is some of the attached article...

*Heidi Crowter, a 24-year-old woman from Coventry who has Down’s syndrome, has joined forces with Cheryl Bilsborrow from Preston, whose two year-old son Hector has Down’s syndrome, and have launched a landmark case against the UK Government over the current discriminatory abortion law which allows abortion up to birth for Down’s syndrome.

Currently in England, Wales and Scotland, there is a general 24-week time limit for abortion, but if the baby has a disability, including Down’s syndrome, cleft lip and club foot, abortion is legal right up to birth.*

Thank you to those who have voted or commented. Personally having watched the amount of care my cousin needs I don't know if I could provide that amount of support as my partner and I both work. My cousin has one stay at home parent which we would struggle to do financially.

So many people haven't a fucking clue what it's like to support an adult with downs syndrome. If the child is low functioning and you've not got a support network and money you've flushed the rest of your life away, and then when you pop your clogs family get pressurised to take over.

At what point during pregnancy can you find out your baby has downs?
I must admit, I hadn't realised any abortions took place beyond 24 weeks before reading this thread. I thought that was the cut off for all.

nasal the reality is hardly any late abortions happen. The vast majority are in the early stages. People aren't going to wait till later for no reason.

"if the baby has a disability, including Down’s syndrome, cleft lip and club foot, abortion is legal right up to birth."

I do find that shocking, but so is forced birth.

I'd say we spend the resources on making the situations of parents and children affected by disability sufficiently supported, that no one would feel the need to do it.

No.

She is being massively unreasonable. The only body Heidi should have any sort of rights over is her own.

She cannot enforce her own sense of worth onto others as a tool to make emotive decisions.

Thank you @Lavender, you both answered my question before you read it and articulated my feelings.

Virtually no one has abortions this late anyway. Absolutely no one has them for laffs.

I do find the thought of an abortion taking place at 39 weeks quite upsetting but I'm sure if that did happen it wouldn't be because they found something out at 12 weeks but decided to wait for the sake of it.
Hardly any later abortions actually take place and aborting a wanted baby for medical reasons must be heartbreaking and not something a mother does lightly.

As early as possible, as late as necessary, for any reason.

The alternative is forced birth and I cannot side with that.