{"id":291766,"date":"2023-05-25T08:40:13","date_gmt":"2023-05-25T13:40:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.liveaction.org\/news\/?p=291766"},"modified":"2023-05-24T12:36:47","modified_gmt":"2023-05-24T17:36:47","slug":"down-syndrome-activist-takes-uk-abortion-fight-to-european-court","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/down-syndrome-activist-takes-uk-abortion-fight-to-european-court\/","title":{"rendered":"Down syndrome activist takes UK abortion fight to European court"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;\" class=\"sharethis-inline-share-buttons\" ><\/div><p>Heidi Crowter, a woman with Down syndrome living in the United Kingdom, has filed an appeal with the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) over a law that allows abortion all the way up until birth for conditions like Down syndrome.<\/p>\n<p>Crowter has established herself as an activist, <a href=\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/uk-down-syndrome-abortion-law-appeal\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">campaigning<\/a> against the UK&#8217;s law allowing eugenic abortions if the preborn child receives any diagnosis of disability, including Down syndrome. While abortion is permitted up to 24 weeks in the country for any reason, children with a prenatal diagnosis can be aborted up until birth. In September 2021, two judges decided to uphold that law. Crowter and her campaign appealed that decision but lost their appeal in November 2022. She&#8217;s now hoping the ECHR will intervene.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" style=\"border: none; overflow: hidden;\" src=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/plugins\/post.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Fpermalink.php%3Fstory_fbid%3D745443977387655%26id%3D100057661791139&amp;show_text=true&amp;width=500\" width=\"500\" height=\"666\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Crowter told <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/uk-england-coventry-warwickshire-65639350\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">BBC News<\/a> she is taking her fight to the ECHR &#8220;because it is downright discrimination that people with disabilities are treated differently.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;In 2023, we live in a society where disabled people are valued equally after birth but not in the womb,&#8221; she said.<\/p>\n<p>She also recently wrote an op-ed in the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.express.co.uk\/comment\/expresscomment\/1773495\/Downs-syndrome-baby-laws-UK-dont-screen-us-out?fbclid=IwAR2Ky-zAp6cBV5ODxMlNCJpB2NSNSvalfbbQaRQnu93gZTwZRiIxmVAGmAo\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Express<\/a> detailing her desire to fight for the preborn.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Back in 2019 I found out about the abortion law which states that a baby with Down&#8217;s syndrome can be aborted up to birth but for a baby without Down&#8217;s syndrome, the time limit is 24 weeks! I could not stop crying when I first found out,&#8221; she wrote. &#8220;This law makes me feel that I am better off dead and that I am not as valued as people without Down&#8217;s syndrome. It boggles my mind that the law protects them and not me.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.liveaction.org\/walgreens-cvs-petition\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-large wp-image-283198 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/Keep-Abortion-Pill-Out-Of-Walgreens-CVSLAN-Horizontal--700x180.jpg\" alt=\"Walgreens CVS banner\" width=\"700\" height=\"180\" srcset=\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/Keep-Abortion-Pill-Out-Of-Walgreens-CVSLAN-Horizontal--700x180.jpg 700w, https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/Keep-Abortion-Pill-Out-Of-Walgreens-CVSLAN-Horizontal--300x77.jpg 300w, https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/Keep-Abortion-Pill-Out-Of-Walgreens-CVSLAN-Horizontal--768x197.jpg 768w, https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/Keep-Abortion-Pill-Out-Of-Walgreens-CVSLAN-Horizontal--500x128.jpg 500w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>According to a <a href=\"https:\/\/dontscreenusout.org\/press-release-woman-with-downs-syndrome-to-take-case-against-uk-govt-over-discriminatory-abortion-law-to-european-court-of-human-rights\/?fbclid=IwAR3NnkT_4JDJWc2j2uxVE5x2k99Pv95AT6Zuw7kxrvUXiih_XS5oOVVgabk\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">press release<\/a> from the organization Don&#8217;t Screen Us Out, the ECHR, which is located in Strasbourg, France, has to first decide if it will hear Crowter&#8217;s case. The court could then decide that the UK law is in violation of human rights, a ruling, the group said, &#8220;which could not only have implications for the United Kingdom but also set a legal precedent for all <a href=\"https:\/\/www.coe.int\/en\/web\/portal\/46-members-states\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">forty-six countries<\/a> that are members of the Council of Europe.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The United Nations Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities recently said that the United Kingdom should change its abortion law to make sure that people like me aren\u2019t singled out because of our disabilities but the Government hasn\u2019t changed the law,&#8221; Crowter noted in the press release.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I have a great life. I want every baby with Down\u2019s syndrome to have the same chance to live and enjoy their life. I hope we win. People shouldn\u2019t be treated differently because of their disabilities, it\u2019s downright discrimination.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/give.liveaction.org\/general-donation\/?utm_source=lan&amp;utm_medium=display&amp;utm_campaign=monthly&amp;utm_content=article\"><i><strong>Did you know that as little as $10 a month is enough to reach more than 3,000 people with the truth about abortion that no one else is telling them? Click here to start saving lives 365 days a year.<\/strong><\/i><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Heidi Crowter, a woman with Down syndrome living in the United Kingdom, has filed an appeal with the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) over a law that allows abortion all the way up until birth for conditions like Down syndrome. Crowter has established herself as an activist, campaigning against the UK&#8217;s law allowing eugenic [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":607,"featured_media":280573,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false},"categories":[5,3473],"tags":[429,10815],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v20.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Down syndrome activist takes UK abortion fight to European court<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Heidi Crowter, a woman with Down syndrome living in the United Kingdom, has filed an appeal with the European Court of Human Rights.\" \/>\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\/down-syndrome-activist-takes-uk-abortion-fight-to-european-court\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Down syndrome activist takes UK abortion fight to European court\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Heidi Crowter, a woman with Down syndrome living in the United Kingdom, has filed an appeal with the European Court of Human Rights.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/down-syndrome-activist-takes-uk-abortion-fight-to-european-court\/\" \/>\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=\"2023-05-25T13:40:13+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-05-24T17:36:47+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/Heidi-Crowter-2022.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"650\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Bridget Sielicki\" \/>\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=\"Bridget Sielicki\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/down-syndrome-activist-takes-uk-abortion-fight-to-european-court\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/down-syndrome-activist-takes-uk-abortion-fight-to-european-court\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Bridget Sielicki\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/354818e37fca891455094342cfaacf2f\"},\"headline\":\"Down syndrome activist takes UK abortion fight to European court\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-05-25T13:40:13+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-05-24T17:36:47+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/down-syndrome-activist-takes-uk-abortion-fight-to-european-court\/\"},\"wordCount\":483,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#organization\"},\"keywords\":[\"Down syndrome\",\"Heidi Crowter\"],\"articleSection\":[\"International\",\"Newsbreak\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/down-syndrome-activist-takes-uk-abortion-fight-to-european-court\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/down-syndrome-activist-takes-uk-abortion-fight-to-european-court\/\",\"name\":\"Down syndrome activist takes UK abortion fight to European court\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2023-05-25T13:40:13+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-05-24T17:36:47+00:00\",\"description\":\"Heidi Crowter, a woman with Down syndrome living in the United Kingdom, has filed an appeal with the European Court of Human Rights.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/down-syndrome-activist-takes-uk-abortion-fight-to-european-court\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/down-syndrome-activist-takes-uk-abortion-fight-to-european-court\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/down-syndrome-activist-takes-uk-abortion-fight-to-european-court\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Down syndrome activist takes UK abortion fight to European court\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/\",\"name\":\"Live Action News\",\"description\":\"Covering Human Rights, Abortion, &amp; 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\/354818e37fca891455094342cfaacf2f\",\"name\":\"Bridget Sielicki\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9cf04f4b8f1370c0d4ec72e4c6913a37?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9cf04f4b8f1370c0d4ec72e4c6913a37?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Bridget Sielicki\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/author\/bridget-sielicki\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Down syndrome activist takes UK abortion fight to European court","description":"Heidi Crowter, a woman with Down syndrome living in the United Kingdom, has filed an appeal with the European Court of Human Rights.","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\/down-syndrome-activist-takes-uk-abortion-fight-to-european-court\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Down syndrome activist takes UK abortion fight to European court","og_description":"Heidi Crowter, a woman with Down syndrome living in the United Kingdom, has filed an appeal with the European Court of Human Rights.","og_url":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/down-syndrome-activist-takes-uk-abortion-fight-to-european-court\/","og_site_name":"Live Action News","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/liveaction","article_published_time":"2023-05-25T13:40:13+00:00","article_modified_time":"2023-05-24T17:36:47+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":650,"url":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/Heidi-Crowter-2022.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Bridget Sielicki","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@liveaction","twitter_site":"@liveaction","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Bridget Sielicki","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/down-syndrome-activist-takes-uk-abortion-fight-to-european-court\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/down-syndrome-activist-takes-uk-abortion-fight-to-european-court\/"},"author":{"name":"Bridget Sielicki","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/354818e37fca891455094342cfaacf2f"},"headline":"Down syndrome activist takes UK abortion fight to European court","datePublished":"2023-05-25T13:40:13+00:00","dateModified":"2023-05-24T17:36:47+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/down-syndrome-activist-takes-uk-abortion-fight-to-european-court\/"},"wordCount":483,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#organization"},"keywords":["Down syndrome","Heidi Crowter"],"articleSection":["International","Newsbreak"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/down-syndrome-activist-takes-uk-abortion-fight-to-european-court\/","url":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/down-syndrome-activist-takes-uk-abortion-fight-to-european-court\/","name":"Down syndrome activist takes UK abortion fight to European court","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#website"},"datePublished":"2023-05-25T13:40:13+00:00","dateModified":"2023-05-24T17:36:47+00:00","description":"Heidi Crowter, a woman with Down syndrome living in the United Kingdom, has filed an appeal with the European Court of Human Rights.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/down-syndrome-activist-takes-uk-abortion-fight-to-european-court\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/down-syndrome-activist-takes-uk-abortion-fight-to-european-court\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/down-syndrome-activist-takes-uk-abortion-fight-to-european-court\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Down syndrome activist takes UK abortion fight to European court"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/","name":"Live Action News","description":"Covering Human Rights, Abortion, &amp; 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\/354818e37fca891455094342cfaacf2f","name":"Bridget Sielicki","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9cf04f4b8f1370c0d4ec72e4c6913a37?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9cf04f4b8f1370c0d4ec72e4c6913a37?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Bridget Sielicki"},"url":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/author\/bridget-sielicki\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/291766"}],"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\/607"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=291766"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/291766\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":291874,"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/291766\/revisions\/291874"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/280573"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=291766"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=291766"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=291766"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}