Meet the Other Phone. Flexible and made to last.

Meet the Other Phone.
Flexible and made to last.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

News

See all MNHQ comments on this thread

UKIP candidate wants compulsory abortion...

180 replies

SingSongSlummy · 01/05/2014 20:15

...for foetuses with Downs Syndrome and other disabilities. Can't believe it. I hope that any Mumsnetters living in Kent can get out and vote for someone else! Link is to Gravesend Reporter.
www.gravesendreporter.co.uk/news/exclusive_compulsory_abortion_for_down_s_syndrome_foetuses_says_ukip_kent_candidate_1_1745952

OP posts:
VampyreofTimeandMemory · 02/05/2014 18:55

vile bastard 'a burden on the state as well as on the family'.

VampyreofTimeandMemory · 02/05/2014 18:59

I would have thought the reason that women terminate foetuses with conditions such as DS is that they feel they would be unable to cope... having never been in the situation, I could be wrong.

rabbitrisen · 02/05/2014 19:07

I presume that this MP is not in line with his party over this issue?

oopsadaisyme · 02/05/2014 19:07

No woman should be 'made' to terminate any child - they should be given all the relevant information relating to health etc, but fundamentally it should always be down to the parents to decide -

Have read the article, this 'man' should not be allowed to stand for anything - compulsory??? So how would they actually enforce that for a mother??

13Namechanger · 02/05/2014 19:22

Rabbit - the party manifesto I believe talks about reinstating institutions - which would suggest to me that his views are entirely in line with his party.

I find the similarities to Nazi policies absolutely terrifying - what he is talking about it essentially ethnic cleansing. Absolutely abhorant.

PortofinoRevisited · 02/05/2014 19:24

Um - this is a really old article. It's still vile, but is not a current candidate.

oopsadaisyme · 02/05/2014 19:25

porto is he not a current candidate???

itsbetterthanabox · 02/05/2014 19:25

I'm surprised I thought they'd be very anti abortion. It's like they are anti choice but not pro life! Mental.
The BBC and news need to stop taking about them excessively it will get them votes!

13Namechanger · 02/05/2014 19:29

I don't think he is current, it's certainly an old article but as far as I'm aware the manifesto (re: institutions) is still the same.

rabbitrisen · 02/05/2014 19:32

I googled reinstating institutions, but nothing came up for that.

13Namechanger · 02/05/2014 19:39

In fairness, Rabbitrisen, it is in the 2010 manifesto rather than the most recent one. It talks of 'self contained communities' and a 'call away from independent living'...

I'm not sure I entirely believe that there stance on that has changed so much in just four years, personally, more that they feel they have more of a chance now so are keeping quiet about their mosst unsavoury policies.

13Namechanger · 02/05/2014 19:40

*their

FengMa · 02/05/2014 19:45

Eugenics. A short moustachioed chap dabbled in that back in the 1940s. Didn't end well for him or his party.

Heil UKIP indeed.

There are no words.

oopsadaisyme · 02/05/2014 19:46

Nigel Farage is gaining a fair few votes after recent televised debate and documentary - I think if this is in their manifesto then more people need to be made aware????

Crazyfeministmama · 02/05/2014 20:03

I think this debate has massive ramifications, though. Firstly, you can only force abortions for DS if you force women to undergo screening for DS. Under the European Convention of Human Rights, you have a right not to know. Of course, UKIP would take us out of Europe, but the point still stands, it is a fundamental human right not to know. So, there is a broader issue, because if the state overrides that right, that affects everyone, not only pregnant women.

Secondly, testing for DS is an invasive procedure, either amnio or CVS, so this policy would effectively force women to undergo invasive procedures with a risk of miscarriage.

Thirdly, at the moment this applies to DS, but we are a hop and a skip away from being able to map the human genome of fetuses, if we can't do that already, and it will then be possible at some point to screen for any number of conditions. Quite aside from UKIP, this will result in more terminations.

So yes, the comparison a previous poster made with the Nazis and UKIP is correct. But the point about the murder of many disabled babies and children is that the parents asked for it. The first baby killed, the father wrote and asked Hitler to allow his son to be killed. The baby was five months old, if I remember correctly. Some parents, some doctors tried to save disabled babies who were to be sent to the killing centres, others did not. In a context of no support for disability and huge social stigma, is this an understandable decision or abhorrent?

I am not drawing a direct comparison between then and now, before I am pounced upon, but I do think wips has a point, if I understand her correctly. Namely, the more society narrows the definition of normal, the more people, or fetuses, will be classified as not normal, and the more people terminate, the less incentive there is to provide appropriate support (it is after all, the mother's choice).

That is why two things are important, the right not to know, and a social fabric which provides appropriate support for parents who choose either not to know or to continue with pregnancies when they do know. If you uphold these rights, there is less chance of stigma and fear leading to medical terminations.

Twit · 02/05/2014 20:05

I'm not sure I entirely believe that there stance on that has changed so much in just four years, personally, more that they feel they have more of a chance now so are keeping quiet about their mosst unsavoury policies.

This ^^.

MinesAPintOfTea · 02/05/2014 20:06

Wips just to echo something another poster said: a lot of women who are sure they won't terminate don't have enough tests to be certain their child will have ds because of the associated risks.

I was happy to have any tests that didn't carry risks because knowing can give time for me to prepare and more importantly ensure suitable medical support during birth, but as I would not personally have a termination except if life threatening I wouldn't risk an amino.

Disgusting party with an inconsistent set of policies. The only good they might do is split the right-wing vote.

oopsadaisyme · 02/05/2014 20:22

Not being funny, but I have a fair few friends who are now fully aware of Nigel Farage, who think he seems like a bloke worth voting for after televised debates and documentaries - but they have no clue (neither do I to be honest) about the full UKIP agenda -

This is scary....

rabbitrisen · 02/05/2014 21:17

Did they ever recind or rebutt that manifesto 13Namechanger?

rabbitrisen · 02/05/2014 21:18

See, I dont know whether to embrace or recoil from the party

pumpkinsweetie · 03/05/2014 15:25

Although the face of the agenda looks appealing, if you really look beyond that all that's left is a racist, sexist, disablist party...
I hate the conservatives but these are much worse!

If ukip get in I worry a lot about what real agendas they have up their sleeve....

13Namechanger · 03/05/2014 18:13

Me too pumpkin
I hate hate hate the tories but I find myself hoping that all those thinking of voting UKIP vote conservative instead.

I find it terrifying if I'm honest.

gilburton · 05/05/2014 13:29

As a UKIP supporter I would urge you to get your facts right and not listen to the hysterical sensational headlines.
There is no doubt we have some idiots but a lot of these stories are rehashed from years ago and are not official policy.
Please wait until after the EU elections as UKIP will be bringing out their 2015 manifesto for the General Election
The old 2010 manifesto no longer applies so any so called "facts" or heresay brought out can be checked against.
If you still don't wish to vote UKIP you can freely choose who you wish.
www.staretheridge.co.uk/
If you are interested I would urge you to monitor the "official" UKIP facebook page or the ukip supporters page.
We have many ladies as candidates and lots more as supporters.

rabbitrisen · 05/05/2014 13:52

Why didnt they bring out a manifesto in time for the EU Elections?

AmberLeaf · 05/05/2014 13:54

Star Ethridge of Golliwog fame no less.

On addressing concerns about UKIP scrapping 'all help for the disabled'

So please ask your self if UKIP would want to alienate its own members by being as draconian, as is being said by other parties, with the system of support for the disabled amongst our ranks and our voters

It's quite obvious if you think about it that it is all a sad and awful rumour spread by those who are scared in order to make the vulnerable more scared

Hmm. No, it was a reaction to UIKPs 2010 manifesto that was calling for congregate communities for people with learning disabilities.

Trying to whitewash that fact shows them as the liars they are.