Mum of baby with Down's syndrome suing government over abortion law

[SharonasCorona]

The mother of a baby with Down's syndrome is suing the government for allowing disabled children to be aborted after 24 weeks of pregnancy.

After 24 weeks a woman can have an abortion if she is at risk of grave physical and mental injury, or there is a severe foetal abnormality, including Down's syndrome.

Maire Lea-Wilson says she was encouraged in hospital to abort her son, who is now 11 months old. She felt the assumption was "that you would want to abort a child with Down's syndrome".

I’m in pro-choice, but I didn’t realise you could abort disabled children until birth. It’s shocking that a woman with a healthy baby with Down’s Syndrome was encouraged to have an abortion, right up until she carried the baby full term.

Abortion should be up to the mother carrying the child as they will be the ones spending the rest of their lives caring for that child. I had a baby with DS which none of my tests detected even though I opted for all the tests. Now my life will be spent either caring for that child for forever as most with DS cannot live fully independent lives or placing the child for adoption. I 100% would have aborted had I known as I’m not cut out to be a caregiver for a child in an adult’s body forever. Every woman should have the right to decide for themselves regardless of gestational age.

So this woman was alright having a baby with a disability and had the resources to potentially care for her adult child for the rest of her life (the situation with elderly relatives and their adult child in my family atm - an amazing and loved person, but one who requires extra care and resources, which thankfully they have been able to provide).

So because SHE was alright with it, she wants to remove the choice from all women.

I think that's disgustingly selfish.

She clearly wasn't forced into anything, she had her child, whether or not she was reminded of her options. What about someone who doesn't have the resources to care for a disabled child? She's clearly not thinking about anyone else and why these options might be in place.

Maybe conversations about termination option can be handled hugely better, this is a fair thing to campaign about.

From what I can tell the lady's campaign is specifically about whether Downs Syndrome should be viewed as a substantial disability. The decision will come down to whether courts think Downs is a 'mild' disability or not. I have an adult relative (age mid 30s) with DS. It's not mild in his case. It's life-limiting, multi-system and has made him always dependent on other (in ways that are now undermining the quality of life for people around him -- who adore him). His quality of life has been up & down but downward trajectory since his mid 20s.

In a year when so many of our usual freedoms & rights have been trashed, I hope the choice to avoid having a disabled child with low quality of life doesn't get binned too.

I don't think she will get very far with this case . She may have been upset by her experiences but that does not give her the right to take away this choice from every other female in the country .
Thankfully I really do think that a judge will throw out this one.

Sorry for peole who feel they are struggling though...my comment was inconsiderate. Perhaps cold hearted was the wrong phrase.

@KKSlider

The choice lies with the woman carrying the pregnancy.

This woman had that choice, she chose to continue her pregnancy. I find it very saddening that she now wants to take that same choice away from other women.

Abortions post-24wks exist for a reason. It can take time for test results, time to reach a decision, time to prepare, and having an arbitrary cut off would interfere with that process which is why we allow this flexibility.

I agree with this, it's a woman's choice and now someone who has chosen the difficult path wants to take the choice away from other women.

I don't understand women in her position. She is ok with her baby having downs other women won't be for a multitude of reasons. I do not need to know their reasons, none of my business but I wholeheartedly agree that they have the right to access a termination at whatever gestation. Parents in this position may well be told that the option is available to them several times because of the length of time it takes for tests to be carried out and results received, their feelings might well change during their pregnancy or their circumstances. If she found it hurtful or disrespectful (totally valid feelings) then she should have been assertive and asked it to be put clearly in her notes that she had made a decision she was happy with and was not under any circumstance be reminded of the opportunity to have a termination. I agree that it couldn't have been pleasant for her to be told this seceral times but you do from personal experience have to be very firm with hcp when you are making a decision that is either not the norm or one they disagree with.

She doesn't have the right to campaign for that choice to be taken away from other prospective parents and is being selfish. Her argument suggests that the decision is flippant which is gravely insulting to other parents.

@SharonasCorona

The point which you’re still missing is this woman was encouraged to abort. That’s not right.

I think it is right.

I think that people who abort for Downs are cold hearted ...i just couldn't do it.

Doesn't make you a better person. Just makes you judgemental.

@malificent7

Sorry for peole who feel they are struggling though...my comment was inconsiderate. Perhaps cold hearted was the wrong phrase.

Inconsiderate is the least of what your comment was .

I also fully support women who wish to terminate for whatever reason. She may have just had the option explained to her,

Her story is odd- the only way you can know a foetus has Down's Syndrome is by having the screening test (which tells you the level of risk) then having further tests (amniocentesis or blood tests) - unless maybe they picked up a major heart defect at the 20 week scan & diagnosed it then? So if she's anti-abortion for Down's Syndrome why did she have the tests done? The news link doesn't answer this question.

It's far to personal to offer a opinion on this situation as I don't have to live with the result of what ever choice they make .

As someone else said her idea of encouragement may well be very different to mine.

@malificent7

I think that people who abort for Downs are cold hearted ...i just couldn't do it.

And that's your choice. But how does it affect you if other people (women) decide that they don't want to bring a disabled child into the world and be responsible for the rest of their lives.

Having a very late abortion makes me feel a bit queasy when you've known since 12 or 20 weeks that something was wrong - but it doesn't affect me, and I would never support that right being taken away (by a largely male parliament).

I believe her when she says she was pressured to have an abortion - and maybe that's the aspect that needs to be addressed. I've read and spoken to mums of children with downs who say it was always dressed up as a tragedy for them (to be honest, I think it would be a tragedy) but maybe the information given needs to be more balanced (and in both of those cases their daughters are doing really well and redefining the image of Downs - but other parents are not so lucky as a pp said).

This woman is another example of people who decide they have to interfere in other peoples' lives. What other women choose to do is nothing to do with her.

@malificent7

I think that people who abort for Downs are cold hearted ...i just couldn't do it.

I consider myself exceptionally fortunate that I haven’t ever had to think about this. I couldn’t judge any parent for a decision they have taken regarding a situation I couldn’t possibly understand. That would be cold-hearted.

Her story is odd- the only way you can know a foetus has Down's Syndrome is by having the screening test (which tells you the level of risk) then having further tests (amniocentesis or blood tests) - unless maybe they picked up a major heart defect at the 20 week scan & diagnosed it then? So if she's anti-abortion for Down's Syndrome why did she have the tests done? The news link doesn't answer this question

Exactly. I've known a few people who haven't had the test because they were very clear that they would have the baby whether it had DS or not.

I refused tests for Downs as I wouldn't have aborted anyway, that's my choice, obviously every woman is different.

Sex selective abortions make me feel very uncomfortable though.

@PankhurstTastic

Her story is odd- the only way you can know a foetus has Down's Syndrome is by having the screening test (which tells you the level of risk) then having further tests (amniocentesis or blood tests) - unless maybe they picked up a major heart defect at the 20 week scan & diagnosed it then? So if she's anti-abortion for Down's Syndrome why did she have the tests done? The news link doesn't answer this question.

I believe the tests aren’t just for Down’s syndrome are they? But even if they are, even if you know you wouldn’t have an abortion I can understand still wanting the information early, so you can be prepared. It would be a lot to take in after giving birth.

Maybe conversations about termination option can be handled hugely better, this is a fair thing to campaign about.

Yes, agreed.

Whilst I support a women’s right to choose, personally I’d want a time limit and think to terminate at term is too late. That said, it very, very rarely happens.

I think a society that cannot see the benefits a child with Downs brings to society has very limited experience of Downs. I do think better education from a position of knowledge might allow a more informed decision. Sadly, few health care professionals have that knowledge and experience these days. My soon to be son in law is a GP but has never met anyone with Down Syndrome. How can he really inform others?
I think women are put under huge pressure to terminate without clear and accurate information.

This just popped back up and I see it's still full of joy.
Those of you who say you'd never have the tests and definitely never abort have never had the situation I'd expect.
I felt this way tbh. Stupidly. Until I was pregnant with an extremely poorly baby.

(And no it wasn't downs in my case, but a lot are downplaying how serious the complications can be)

@Hophopandaway

Sorry downs syndrome isn't healthy no matter how un PC that sounds. They are unlikely to ever be able to function and pay enough tax to contribute to the system of society and often receive lifelong care which costs families and the state an absolute fortune. Women's freedom of choice should exist until birth women should be able to abort untill the very end. this is a critical case of freedom of choice the baby will be her responsibility for life.

We are human beings not economic units that exist to pay tax. People contribute to society in lots of ways that arent all about tax. You are actually talking about living people in a horrible way.

Im am pro choice because its a womans body but the sentiment at the start of your post is a dangerous slope.