Thread by @Telegraph

🔴Could this be the last generation of Down's syndrome children?

Globally, the Down’s syndrome population is plummeting - leading to suggestions we may be witnessing the elimination of the condition

Thread ~👇
telegraph.co.uk/family/life/co…

🩸Since July, all pregnant women in England have been routinely offered NIPT (non-invasive prenatal testing) screening, a blood test which detects the rogue extra copy of chromosome 21 that causes Down’s syndrome.

The test has been offered in Scotland since January

In countries where early screening is routinely offered, almost all women opt to abort the affected unborn baby and try again.

🔴The global Down’s syndrome population is therefore plummeting
telegraph.co.uk/family/life/co…

NIPT testing is carried out in the first three months of pregnancy - it is 99% accurate in picking up cells carrying Down’s syndrome.

Under the current 1967 Abortion Act, any Down’s syndrome baby that is undetected through the screening can be legally aborted up until birth

🇩🇰In countries such as Denmark, which introduced NIPT screening in 2006, more than 95% of affected pregnancies are aborted.

🇮🇸In Iceland, no affected babies are believed to have been born since 2017
telegraph.co.uk/family/life/co…

📉The rate of Down’s syndrome births is falling fast.
One study saw a 54% decline in Down’s syndrome births in Europe between 2011 - 2015.

Ranging from:
🇪🇸83% fall in Spain, to
🇲🇹0% in Malta, where abortion is banned

Ahead of the introduction of the NIPT test, nuchal translucency ultrasound scanning had been offered with a test for blood biomarkers associated with Down’s syndrome for around 20 years.

The use of these tests has halved the number of babies born in the UK with Down’s syndrome

🔴The Down’s syndrome community is now fighting a rearguard action to change the narrative and make people aware that, thanks to modern medicine, their children can attend mainstream schools, live independently and enjoy a life expectancy similar to the rest of us

➡️Fifty years ago, Down’s syndrome was considered a serious disability - now most of the associated complications, including learning difficulties, can be fully or partially treated
telegraph.co.uk/family/life/co…

Heidi Crowter, who has Down’s syndrome, has challenged the 1967 law.

She has led a campaign called Don’t Screen Us Out, which has raised more than £100,000 from 3,000 people to challenge the late abortion provision, which Crowter says ‘doesn’t respect my life’, in the high court

🔴The legal case argued that allowing abortion for Down’s syndrome up until birth ‘stereotypes and demeans’ people and is incompatible with the European Convention on Human Rights, and that this section of the UK’s 1967 Abortion Act should be removed

❌In the high court ruling handed down last month, however, Lord Justice Singh and Mrs Justice Lieven rejected DSOU’s challenge, meaning the current law still stands.

Read more⬇️
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