{"id":248985,"date":"2021-07-11T11:45:27","date_gmt":"2021-07-11T16:45:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.liveaction.org\/news\/?p=248985"},"modified":"2021-07-09T17:40:24","modified_gmt":"2021-07-09T22:40:24","slug":"uk-abort-37-weeks-down-syndrome","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/uk-abort-37-weeks-down-syndrome\/","title":{"rendered":"UK mom says she was encouraged to abort at 37 weeks due to son’s Down syndrome"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>

A mother told her son may have Down syndrome was pressured to have an abortion, even though she was due to deliver in just three weeks<\/strong><\/em>.<\/p>\n

Tracy Seager is one of many people in the United Kingdom sharing her story as part of the #imwithheidi movement. Heidi Crowter, a young British woman with Down syndrome, has been campaigning<\/a> to overturn a discriminatory law which targets people with Down syndrome and other disabilities. In the United Kingdom, abortion is illegal after 24 weeks of pregnancy, unless the preborn child is diagnosed with any disability, even one as minor as a cleft lip. In such cases, abortion is permitted at any time up to birth.<\/p>\n

Seager learned at a 37-week scan that her son might have Down syndrome. She said she was then pressured to have an abortion, which she ultimately refused.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt made me feel like his little life wasn\u2019t worth living,” she said in an interview LancsLive<\/a>. \u201cThey had already shown me a scan of his face and he was fully formed. What they said at that time still haunts me because he was a fully formed baby \u2014 he was real. It\u2019s so upsetting that people don\u2019t think my little boy has got a life worth living when he has.\u201d<\/p>\n

Her son, Jacob, is now four, and does have Down syndrome. But Seager said he is amazing, and that his life does have worth.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s nothing like what they had made it out to be,” she continued. \u201cYeah there are sad things and there is hard times but it\u2019s amazing as well, it\u2019s not all negative doom and gloom like it\u2019s portrayed to be. Everyone always says how happy he is.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another mom, Christina Bowman, was told on social media that she was “selfish” for not aborting her son, Max. And according to Bowman, women in the United Kingdom are set up to believe the misconceptions about Down syndrome. \u201cParents don’t get given the right information, the balanced information to be able to make those choices,” she said. \u201cThis is not just about the abortion, this is about equality. This is about people with Down syndrome having equal rights even in the womb.\u201d<\/p>\n

READ:\u00a0I was pressured to abort after a decimal point error led to a Down syndrome misdiagnosis<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Bowman said she was constantly being told negative information about Down syndrome, even though it was outdated and inaccurate \u2014 something she has discovered herself, now that Max has been born.<\/p>\n

“I cried – I was so frightened of the future I thought, he\u2019s never going to get married or he\u2019s going to die young,” she said. \u201cAll these things aren’t true for everybody. I would have just accepted that people get abortions because it\u2019s hard to have a child with Down syndrome but it\u2019s not as hard as people make out. I just know that my son could have been terminated right up until he was born and it sickens and frightens me that I might not have known how beautiful my son is if I had done that. He brings us joy everyday. Our family is now closer since having Max.\u201d<\/p>\n

Seager and Bowman are far from alone. Many other women have spoken about the immense pressure<\/a> they’ve received to have an abortion, solely because of Down syndrome.<\/p>\n

One mom was offered an abortion 15 times, with the doctor telling her she could have an abortion until her baby was traveling down the birth canal. Another woman was told her son had no chance of surviving<\/a>, and when she still chose life, her medical team abandoned her, offering no help through the pregnancy and delivery. Her son ended up having Down syndrome, but is otherwise healthy and thriving.<\/p>\n

The United Kingdom\u2019s Antenatal Results and Choices (ARC) will only give parents resources and support if parents choose to have an abortion<\/a> after a prenatal diagnosis.<\/p>\n

Heidi Crowter, for her part, has continued to advocate<\/a> for the entire Down syndrome community, saying she is more than the label the medical community gives her.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe reason I feel so strongly about abortion is because I am someone who has Down\u2019s syndrome,\u201d she said earlier this year. \u201cAnd I don\u2019t want people to see me as \u2018a devastating diagnosis\u2019 or \u2018a crisis pregnancy.\u2019 I want them to see the real me. I don\u2019t want to be treated differently because of my [extra] chromosome.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cLike\u201d Live Action News on Facebook<\/a>\u00a0for more pro-life news and commentary!<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A mother told her son may have Down syndrome was pressured to have an abortion, even though she was due to deliver in just three weeks. Tracy Seager is one of many people in the United Kingdom sharing her story as part of the #imwithheidi movement. Heidi Crowter, a young British woman with Down syndrome, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":248986,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false},"categories":[7,5,3473],"tags":[7057,10813,10817,10814,428,10298,429,5031,10299,10816,10815,4832,8709,10812,10811,776],"yoast_head":"\nUK mom says she was encouraged to abort at 37 weeks due to son's Down syndrome<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A mother told her son may have Down syndrome was pressured to have an abortion, even though she was due to deliver in just three weeks. She refused.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/uk-abort-37-weeks-down-syndrome\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"UK mom says she was encouraged to abort at 37 weeks due to son's Down syndrome\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A mother told her son may have Down syndrome was pressured to have an abortion, even though she was due to deliver in just three weeks. She refused.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/uk-abort-37-weeks-down-syndrome\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Live Action News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/liveaction\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-07-11T16:45:27+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-07-09T22:40:24+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Photo-shared-on-Facebook-13.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1100\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Cassy Cooke\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@liveaction\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@liveaction\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Cassy Cooke\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/uk-abort-37-weeks-down-syndrome\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/uk-abort-37-weeks-down-syndrome\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Cassy Cooke\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/16622da192101346f516b7444d125392\"},\"headline\":\"UK mom says she was encouraged to abort at 37 weeks due to son’s Down syndrome\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-07-11T16:45:27+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-07-09T22:40:24+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/uk-abort-37-weeks-down-syndrome\/\"},\"wordCount\":770,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#organization\"},\"keywords\":[\"24 weeks\",\"37 weeks\",\"Antenatal Results and Choices\",\"Christina Bowman\",\"disability\",\"discriminatory abortions\",\"Down syndrome\",\"Down syndrome abortion\",\"eugenic abortions\",\"extra chromosome\",\"Heidi Crowter\",\"prenatal diagnosis\",\"pressured to abort\",\"pressured to abort baby with Down syndrome\",\"Tracy Seager\",\"United Kingdom\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Human Rights\",\"International\",\"Newsbreak\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/uk-abort-37-weeks-down-syndrome\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/uk-abort-37-weeks-down-syndrome\/\",\"name\":\"UK mom says she was encouraged to abort at 37 weeks due to son's Down syndrome\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2021-07-11T16:45:27+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-07-09T22:40:24+00:00\",\"description\":\"A mother told her son may have Down syndrome was pressured to have an abortion, even though she was due to deliver in just three weeks. She refused.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/uk-abort-37-weeks-down-syndrome\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/uk-abort-37-weeks-down-syndrome\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/uk-abort-37-weeks-down-syndrome\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"UK mom says she was encouraged to abort at 37 weeks due to son’s Down syndrome\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/\",\"name\":\"Live Action News\",\"description\":\"Covering Human Rights, Abortion, & Pro-Life Issues\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Live Action\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Live-Action-Logo-Black.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Live-Action-Logo-Black.png\",\"width\":701,\"height\":710,\"caption\":\"Live Action\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/liveaction\",\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/liveaction\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/liveactionorg\/\",\"https:\/\/www.pinterest.com\/LiveActionFilms\/\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/LiveActionFilms\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/16622da192101346f516b7444d125392\",\"name\":\"Cassy Cooke\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8b602f8210f1a7d948ca1c0dcab11fad?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8b602f8210f1a7d948ca1c0dcab11fad?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Cassy Cooke\"},\"description\":\"Cassy has over 20 years of experience as a writer and editor, most of which have been spent covering pro-life issues like abortion, disability rights, euthanasia, and more.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/author\/cassy-fiano\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"UK mom says she was encouraged to abort at 37 weeks due to son's Down syndrome","description":"A mother told her son may have Down syndrome was pressured to have an abortion, even though she was due to deliver in just three weeks. She refused.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/uk-abort-37-weeks-down-syndrome\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"UK mom says she was encouraged to abort at 37 weeks due to son's Down syndrome","og_description":"A mother told her son may have Down syndrome was pressured to have an abortion, even though she was due to deliver in just three weeks. She refused.","og_url":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/uk-abort-37-weeks-down-syndrome\/","og_site_name":"Live Action News","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/liveaction","article_published_time":"2021-07-11T16:45:27+00:00","article_modified_time":"2021-07-09T22:40:24+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1100,"height":600,"url":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Photo-shared-on-Facebook-13.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"Cassy Cooke","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@liveaction","twitter_site":"@liveaction","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Cassy Cooke","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/uk-abort-37-weeks-down-syndrome\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/uk-abort-37-weeks-down-syndrome\/"},"author":{"name":"Cassy Cooke","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/16622da192101346f516b7444d125392"},"headline":"UK mom says she was encouraged to abort at 37 weeks due to son’s Down syndrome","datePublished":"2021-07-11T16:45:27+00:00","dateModified":"2021-07-09T22:40:24+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/uk-abort-37-weeks-down-syndrome\/"},"wordCount":770,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#organization"},"keywords":["24 weeks","37 weeks","Antenatal Results and Choices","Christina Bowman","disability","discriminatory abortions","Down syndrome","Down syndrome abortion","eugenic abortions","extra chromosome","Heidi Crowter","prenatal diagnosis","pressured to abort","pressured to abort baby with Down syndrome","Tracy Seager","United Kingdom"],"articleSection":["Human Rights","International","Newsbreak"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/uk-abort-37-weeks-down-syndrome\/","url":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/uk-abort-37-weeks-down-syndrome\/","name":"UK mom says she was encouraged to abort at 37 weeks due to son's Down syndrome","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#website"},"datePublished":"2021-07-11T16:45:27+00:00","dateModified":"2021-07-09T22:40:24+00:00","description":"A mother told her son may have Down syndrome was pressured to have an abortion, even though she was due to deliver in just three weeks. She refused.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/uk-abort-37-weeks-down-syndrome\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/uk-abort-37-weeks-down-syndrome\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/uk-abort-37-weeks-down-syndrome\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"UK mom says she was encouraged to abort at 37 weeks due to son’s Down syndrome"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/","name":"Live Action News","description":"Covering Human Rights, Abortion, & Pro-Life Issues","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#organization","name":"Live Action","url":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Live-Action-Logo-Black.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Live-Action-Logo-Black.png","width":701,"height":710,"caption":"Live Action"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/liveaction","https:\/\/twitter.com\/liveaction","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/liveactionorg\/","https:\/\/www.pinterest.com\/LiveActionFilms\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/LiveActionFilms"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/16622da192101346f516b7444d125392","name":"Cassy Cooke","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8b602f8210f1a7d948ca1c0dcab11fad?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8b602f8210f1a7d948ca1c0dcab11fad?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Cassy Cooke"},"description":"Cassy has over 20 years of experience as a writer and editor, most of which have been spent covering pro-life issues like abortion, disability rights, euthanasia, and more.","url":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/author\/cassy-fiano\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/248985"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=248985"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/248985\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":249004,"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/248985\/revisions\/249004"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/248986"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=248985"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=248985"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=248985"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}