A pre-natal screening test that critics fear will lead to an increase in the number of babies who are aborted because of Down’s Syndrome has been approved by the Government for use in the NHS.
The decision comes despite calls from pro-life groups and Down’s charities for wider consultation. The non-invasive test is safer and more accurate, but campaigners argue that because the majority of people who learn that their baby has Down’s Syndrome choose to abort, improved screening will lead to more abortions. Catholic Labour MP Rob Flello said he was deeply troubled by the Government’s decision to rush through the new test.
“The Government are acting totally irresponsibly in pushing through a test which I believe will lead to 100 per cent abortion of babies with Down’s Syndrome,” he said.
“The decision shows a shocking lack of willingness to consult by the Department of Health, and suggests to me that there is a mindset that those with Down’s Syndrome are not worth being born,” he added.
Last week some 900 people with the condition sent a letter to the Health Secretary, Jeremy Hunt, demanding consultation and a full ethical review.
"I am saddened by the way this decision was taken,” Lord Shinkwin, who campaigns for disability rights, said this week.
“Ministers could have met with people with Down’s Syndrome and their families and addressed their concerns before making the announcement. They chose not to and instead signaled to disabled people once again that they would be better off dead,” he added.
Last weekend almost 300 medical professionals signed an open letter, addressed to the President of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG), Professor Lesley Regan, accusing the college of “advocating that women with a prenatal diagnosis of Down's syndrome should end their pregnancy”.
A spokeswoman for the RCOG said: "The RCOG does not and never will advocate that women with prenatal diagnosis of Down’s syndrome should end their pregnancy. The RCOG’s submission to the UK National Screening Committee recommended a cost analysis of introducing the screening programme (as with any national screening programme) for trisomy (chromosomal conditions) and did not make assumptions specifically on the cost or quality of life of a person living with Down’s syndrome."
Dr Anne Mackie, director of programmes for the UK National Screening Committee, said: “We will closely manage the rollout of non-invasive prenatal testing to give us a better understanding of the impact it has on the decisions women and their partners make following their test results.”
The Government has said that the new test, which is already available in the private sector and is due to be launched in the NHS in 2018, is safer than the invasive test currently offered and will allow women to make informed choices.
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