New abortion statistics from the Department of Health and Social Care reveal a distressing 2.59% increase in disability-selective abortions in England and Wales, with 3,205 unborn children terminated in 2023 due to diagnosed disabilities.
This rise highlights the urgent moral crisis in a system that permits abortions up to birth for conditions like Down’s syndrome, where 685 babies were aborted, and cleft lip or palate, accounting for 40 cases—figures likely underreported, as a 2013 Eurocat review showed higher numbers.
Late-term abortions at 24 weeks and beyond for disabilities surged by 17.19%, totaling 300 in 2023 compared to 256 the previous year. Under Section 1(1)(d) of the 1967 Abortion Act, terminations are legal if there’s a “substantial risk” of the child being “seriously handicapped,” a term broadly interpreted to include treatable conditions like cleft lip (surgically corrected at 3-6 months) or club foot (addressed via minimally invasive methods).
This legislation stands in stark contrast to the UK’s Disability Discrimination Act 1995, which prohibits discrimination based on disability, and the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, ratified in 2009, affirming equal right to life for those with disabilities. The UN Committee has urged the UK to amend laws allowing abortions solely for fetal impairments.
Right To Life UK spokesperson Catherine Robinson decried the figures: “It is shocking and thoroughly disappointing that 2023 saw an increase in the number of babies who were aborted simply because they had a disability. Disabilities that the law classifies as making an individual ‘seriously handicapped’ include many conditions that do not prohibit an individual from living a full, happy life at all. For these individuals to have their chance at life removed before it has even begun is tragic.”
The data underscores the need to overturn abortion laws, ensuring equal protection for all unborn lives and rejecting eugenic practices that devalue human dignity from conception.
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