Unborn babies with Down syndrome in Ireland are being aborted at an extremely high rate, even though abortion is illegal in the country, according to new research data.
This week, the Irish Independent published data from the top three maternity hospitals in Ireland indicating that about 50 percent of women whose unborn babies test positive for Down syndrome have abortions.
The women traveled outside the country to abort their unborn babies, but if abortion activists have their way, soon they may not have to. On May 25, Ireland is scheduled to vote on whether to repeal its Eighth Amendment, which protects unborn babies’ right to life. Abortion activists, backed by some of the world’s richest men, are pushing the pro-life country to legalize abortion on demand.
Pro-lifers estimate that the Eighth Amendment has saved approximately 100,000 unborn babies’ lives from abortion.
If the amendment is repealed, government leaders plan to push a proposal to legalize abortion for any reason up to 12 weeks of pregnancy and later in certain circumstances, likely including disabilities such as Down syndrome.
The new data comes from the National Maternity Hospital in Holles Street, the Coombe Hospital and Rotunda Hospital, according to the report. The data only relates to mothers who opt for prenatal testing – many do not.
Dr. Rhona Mahony, the master of Holles Street, presented data from her hospital to urge voters to support abortion. She said about 1,000 pregnant moms choose to undergo the prenatal testing every year at her hospital.
Of those whose babies test positive for Down syndrome, “it looks like 50 percent continue and not continue,” Mahony said. “The screening test is 99 percent predictive.”
Here’s more from the report:
Figures obtained by the Irish Independent reveal that in Coombe in 2016 there were 21 pregnant women who were informed their baby had Down Syndrome and 14 (66pc) of these had a termination in the UK.
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Five of the babies were born in the hospital, and two women had miscarriages.
Meanwhile, in the Rotunda Hospital that year there were 26 cases of pre-natal diagnosis of Down Syndrome, and 57pc of mothers had a termination.
Figures for the National Maternity Hospital also indicate around 50pc of women who have had a test and been informed their baby will have Down Syndrome had a termination.
Abortion supporters are using the data to urge voters to repeal the Eighth Amendment, but the data really should be a reason to retain it. If the referendum passes, even more unborn babies with Down syndrome and other disabilities will become targets for eugenic abortions.
John McGuirk, a spokesman for Save the 8th, told Today FM that the horrifying data has him concerned that political leaders will push for a wide legalization of abortion.
“It’s 12 weeks today, and if the government changes its mind again, there’s nothing stopping it from being 16 or 17 weeks,” he said. “We’re giving them power.”
Across the world, unborn babies with Down syndrome and other disabilities are discriminated against at astronomical rates. Parents whose unborn babies have Down syndrome or other disabilities frequently report feeling pressure to abort them by doctors and genetic counselors.
A recent CBS News report shocked the nation with its exposure of the discriminatory abortion trend. According to the report, nearly 100 percent of unborn babies who test positive for Down syndrome are aborted in Iceland. The rate in France was 77 percent in 2015, 90 percent in the United Kingdom and 67 percent in the United States between 1995 and 2011, according to CBS.
Some put the rate as high as 90 percent in the United States, but it is difficult to determine the exact number because the U.S. government does not keep detailed statistics about abortion.
