Three babies aborted every day due to Down's syndrome

An increasing number of pregnant women are being told their babies have the condition because of a growing number of women putting off having children until their 30s and 40s and improvements in screening, doctors say.
And around nine in ten women who are told they are going to have a baby with the problem opt for a termination.
The research shows that around 1,100 babies in England and Wales are aborted every year because of Down's syndrome, an increase from 300 in 1989/90.
The findings have led Down's syndrome support organisations to call for greater counselling to help parents make the right decision for them.
They say that having a child with Down's can be rewarding and that the quality of life for those suffering from the condition has improved.
However, doctors say that women must make the decision according to their circumstances, and that some may be better placed financially to deal with it than others.
Prof Joan Morris, professor of medical statistics who carried out the research at Queen Mary, University of London, said: "We are getting more pregnancies with Down's syndrome because women are having their babies older and because we are screening more accurately and screening more women, there are more terminations.
"It is important that women have the full information. There is a group of women out there who don't want screening because they would not terminate anyway and that is a good thing if that is what they want."
Women over 40 years old are at a 16-fold greater risk of having a Down's pregnancy than a woman under the age of 25.
Carol Boys, Chief Executive, Down's Syndrome Association said: "We realise that tests will continue to become more accurate at increasingly earlier stages of pregnancy.
"It is therefore even more important that families undergoing the screening process are given non-directive counselling and accurate, up-to-date information about Down's syndrome."
For the study published online by the British Medical Journal, researchers at the Queen Mary analysed data on the National Down's Syndrome Cytogenetic Register which holds anonymous data on over 26,000 cases of Down's
syndrome diagnosed antenatal or postnatally in England and Wales.
They found that the number of Down's syndrome diagnoses has increased by almost three quarters in since 1989 but fewer babies are now being born.
The figures showed that diagnoses of Down's syndrome increased from 1,075 in 1989/90 to 1,843 in 2007/8. Yet the numbers of babies born with the condition fell by one per cent from 752 to 743.
If women were not screened for the condition the number of babies born with Down's syndrome would have increased by half and would now have reached 1,422 in a year in England and Wales.
It has been suggested that the improvements in screening for Down's syndrome will eventually lead to the condition being wiped out but Prof Morris said this was unlikely as a significant number of women decide against screening.
She added that improvements in non-invasive testing for the condition could lead to earlier detection and terminations.
Frank Buckley, chief executive of Down Syndrome Education International said: "People with Down syndrome are living longer and achieving more than ever before and it is reassuring to know that they will be continuing to make valued contributions to our communities for years to come.
"These figures should be a wake-up call to policy-makers to focus more effort on improving education, healthcare and adult support for the rapidly growing population of citizens who have Down syndrome."
Peter Elliott, Chairman of The Down Syndrome Research Foundation, who has a 24-year-old son David with Downs Syndrome, said: "Why are the abortions at such a high rate unless they have been given the impression the situation was terrible and it warranted an abortion?"
"I don't think the choice is presented to the parents in the light of the true situation where the children have a good life and are in fact viewed as a blessing to the parents, not a curse, and I don't think these parents getting the abortions know much about Downs syndrome at all."
Phyllis Bowman, director of the pro-life charity, Right to Life, said too many people do not appreciate the value of a child with Down's syndrome.
She said: "I find it very sad that more terminations are being carried out due to Down's syndrome. These children can do very well, they can achieve GCSEs and we have a member with Down's who runs their own company.
"People are made frightened of having a Down's child by the images of the condition that are portrayed. Too many people are presupposing that people with Down's syndrome have no value."
It is estimated that there are approximately 60,000 people with Down's syndrome currently living in the UK.
Source telegraph.co.uk