Doctors Pressured Her to Have Abortion After Her Baby Was Diagnosed With Down Syndrome, But She Refused
A brave mother from south-west London has revealed how she had to fight to give birth to her son who doctors wanted to abort after he was diagnosed with Down’s Syndrome. “We’ve been put on a path that doesn’t really have a choice… We really hope it’s different for people today.”
Natalie O’Rourke is from Teddington in south-west London, where she helps disabled children ride horses.
Ten years ago, when Natalie became pregnant, tests revealed that her son Woody had Down’s Syndrome. Following the diagnosis, she felt pressured by doctors to have an abortion.
“It’s very scary, and it’s like we’ve been put on a path where there’s really no choice. I mean it happened 10 years ago, so I hope it’s different from people today”, said Natalie.
“They called me to tell me that the baby has Down’s Syndrome”, he said. “’We’re just confirming your appointment for tomorrow’, and I said, ‘I don’t have an appointment for tomorrow, I think you’ve got the wrong person’, and I realized they’d booked me in for a termination [an abortion] the next day…
“And I said I’m not going, you can cancel that appointment, but he said, ‘No, we’ll keep the appointment in case you change your mind.'”
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Natalie already has one child, a daughter, but she wonders if she would have been forced to abort Woody if she was a first-time mum: “I might have thought I had to go along with that. and maybe didn’t realize there was a choice.”
While Natalie is happy that she didn’t allow the doctors to abort her child, she is still “disgusted” by what happened and how she felt Woody was “going to be a drain on society…
“It’s like his life has no value, and actually Woody is a life enhancer, he makes the lives of everyone he meets better.”
Appearing on ITV’s This Morning show on March 21, which marked World Down Syndrome Day, Natalie said: “I really hope that a decade from now things will have changed, but I want to get a strong message out there. .. Don’t be afraid of Down’s syndrome , there is so much love and kindness out there…
“I remember holding him [Woody] in my arms for the first time, and she was crying and I was so happy that she was healthy, and I thought, ‘I fought for you and now you’re here.’”
Children with Down’s Syndrome are still being targeted
In November, Heidi Crowter lost her case in the Court of Appeal, no reported of SPUC, after she called for a change in UK law which currently allows babies with Down’s Syndrome to be aborted until birth. Heidi criticized the law as “actual discrimination”.
“It makes me very sad that babies with Down’s Syndrome can be aborted at birth”, commented Heidi, who also has the condition. “This [ruling] I am told that I am not appreciated and worth less than someone without Down’s Syndrome… [It] makes me feel like I’m not as important as someone who doesn’t have Down’s Syndrome.”
In 2021, said Richard Dawkins, the famous ethologist and evolutionary biologist “It will be wise and sober” to abort a baby with Down’s Syndrome.
Mothers also repeatedly reported how they felt pressured by medical staff to abort babies with Down’s Syndrome.
A mother, Emma Mellor, told her story offered an abortion 15 times“even though we made it really clear that this was not an option for us… It really felt like they pushed and really wanted to terminate us. [have the abortion].”
Another mother, Máire Lea-Wilson, is offered an abortion three times for her unborn baby who was diagnosed with Down’s Syndrome. “During this period of extreme vulnerability, I was told that my child would not survive independently… In the context of fear, vulnerability, and biased information, I was offered an abortion three times…
“Aidan is 16 months now…He is a joy, and I am so proud of him. I can’t change anything about him.”
“right discrimination”
Michael Robinson, SPUC’s Executive Director (Public Affairs and Legal Services), said: “Discrimination against babies with Down’s Syndrome is enshrined in law, resulting in many mothers being forced to abort their unborn children. Many such babies are sadly aborted due to societal bias.
“This is a shameful situation, which is even more disgusting in a society that claims to be against discrimination. But many medical professionals go out of their way to make mothers feel that babies with Down’s Syndrome are unwanted and a burden.
“The message it also sends to people with Down’s Syndrome, of any age, is much the same. Far from being inclusive, our society, supported by the law, singles out individuals with Down’s Syndrome for destruction .
“What Natalie and other parents go through, when doctors assume or assume that an unborn child with Down’s Syndrome needs to be aborted, should never happen. The mere assumption is offensive and a wrong action. As Heidi Crowter rightly said, it is ‘absolutely discriminatory’.”
LifeNews notes: Courtesy of SPUC. The Society for the Protection of Unborn Children is a leading pro-life organization in the United Kingdom.
