{"id":282888,"date":"2023-01-07T09:00:15","date_gmt":"2023-01-07T15:00:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.liveaction.org\/news\/?p=282888"},"modified":"2023-01-05T23:23:17","modified_gmt":"2023-01-06T05:23:17","slug":"down-syndrome-protests-irish-abortion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/down-syndrome-protests-irish-abortion\/","title":{"rendered":"Man with Down syndrome protests Irish hospital’s 95% abortion rate"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Last month, the head of the Rotunda Hospital in Ireland admitted that nearly all<\/a> babies diagnosed prenatally with Down syndrome in that hospital are aborted. In response, a Down syndrome self-advocate is speaking out about the right to life of children with Down syndrome.<\/p>\n

Professor Fergal Malone claimed that 95% of women whose babies received a prenatal diagnosis of Down syndrome at Rotunda Hospital are aborted, though this supposedly was not due to any pressure. \u201cThe 95 per cent who choose to travel do reach that decision themselves. We very much do not advocate for termination,\u201d he said. \u201cThe reality is that the vast majority choose to terminate. I don\u2019t have a view on whether that is the right thing. We don\u2019t advocate for it, that is just the lived experience.\u201d<\/p>\n

In response, Conor O\u2019Dowd, a young man with Down syndrome, hand-delivered<\/a> a letter to Rotunda Hospital urging the administration to address the abortion rate. O’Dowd, who works as a chef and a photographer, also gave a speech at the hospital.<\/p>\n

\u201cI love my life,\u201d he said. \u201cI don\u2019t understand why people are trying to take away people with Down syndrome.\u201d<\/p>\n