Heidi Crowter to take landmark Down Syndrome case against UK Govt over discriminatory abortion law to European Court of Human Rights

May 18, 2023 | News

Heidi Crowter take landmark Down Syndrome case against UK Govt over discriminatory abortion law to European Court of Human Rights

For more information on the Don’t Screen Us Out campaign and this important case, see their website www.dontscreenusout.org

Heidi Crowter, from Coventry, who has Down Syndrome says:

“I am taking my case all the way to the European Court of Human Rights at Strasbourg because it is downright discrimination that people with disabilities are treated differently.

In 2023, we live in a society where disabled people are valued equally after birth but not in the womb.

Our law singles out babies with disabilities. It says that babies can’t be aborted after 24-weeks if they are not found to have a disability, but if a baby is found to have Down’s syndrome, they can be aborted up until birth. This is the current law in the UK and I think it’s not fair.

This law sends a message to people like me with Down’s syndrome that we are less valuable than others. This is not true and it is not right.

The United Nations Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities recently said that the United Kingdom should change its abortion law to make sure that people like me aren’t singled out because of our disabilities but the Government hasn’t changed the law.

So me and other members of the Down’s syndrome community have set out to get rid of the clause in the law, and now we are taking our case to the European Court of Human Rights.

I have a great life. I want every baby with Down’s syndrome to have the same chance to live and enjoy their life.

I hope we win. People shouldn’t be treated differently because of their disabilities, it’s downright discrimination.”

Lord David Alton

For 18 years David Alton was a Member of the House of Commons and today he is an Independent Crossbench Life Peer in the UK House of Lords.

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