Peter Fitzpatrick (Louth, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the witnesses. One of the main concerns many people have regarding abortion is that we would end up like England and Wales, where 90% of babies diagnosed with Down's syndrome are being aborted. The witness's paper talks about how prenatal screening is being offered to women from 2017 in order that there is a better chance of detecting Down's syndrome in the womb. We know from countries like the UK that increases in screening usually mean that more babies with Down's syndrome are aborted. A recent article on the Huffington Post news website discussed how more and more babies with Down's syndrome are being aborted. It mentioned Denmark, where 98% of babies with the condition are aborted, and Iceland, where that figure rises to 100%. The same article describes how the Dutch Minister for health at the time was asked if she planned to take any steps in the Netherlands to ensure that the same situation does not happen there. Her response was that if freedom of choice results in a situation that nearly no children with Down's syndrome are being born, society should accept that. Do the witnesses agree with this statement? Do they think that the idea of a choice is more important than the life of a baby with Down's syndrome?