Society should “think carefully” about aborting foetuses on the base of disability

If foetuses can be aborted on the grounds that the children
would be disabled then they should also be allowed to be aborted on
the grounds of their race or gender, delegates heard at Community
Care Live today, writes Amy Taylor.

Rachel Hurst, director of the charity Disability Awareness in
Action, said that by allowing disabled foetuses to be aborted,
society was treating disabled people differently to any other
group.

“In human rights terms, if you are going to allow women
access to abortion on a viable foetus because they are disabled
then you must allow them to do it on the grounds of gender or
race,” she said.

Hurst added that if a woman chose to have an abortion for an
unviable foetus, one that would be unable to survive, that was
“absolutely right and proper” but that society has to
“look very carefully” at allowing foetuses that could
live, such as those who are disabled, to be aborted.