The practice of aborting foetuses because they are disabled is akin to terminating pregnancies on the grounds of race or gender, a campaigner told delegates.

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 from other groups.

"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 abort an unviable foetus - one that would be unable to survive - that was "absolutely right and proper".

However, she said society had to "look very carefully" at allowing foetuses that could live, such as those that are disabled, to be aborted.