CNA Staff, Jan 5, 2021 / 15:31 pm
The number of babies with Down syndrome who were born in Europe fell by half between 2011 and 2015- confirming the fears of pro-life campaigners in the UK, who have long argued that increased prenatal testing for Down syndrome has led many women to abort their children.
A study published during December 2020 in the European Journal of Human Genetics examined the years 2011-2015 to determine the number of babies born with Down syndrome across all countries in Europe, and compared those numbers to estimates of how many babies would have been born with Down syndrome had they not been aborted.
The study found that 54% fewer babies with Down syndrome were born during that period in the United Kingdom than estimates would have expected- a figure roughly in line with the European average.
Notably, in the UK, non-invasive prenatal testing for Down syndrome has been available since 2012 to any woman willing to pay the £500 bill, the BBC reports.