UK high court rejects bid from woman with Down’s syndrome to limit abortions on babies with condition

A 26-year-old woman in the UK who has Down’s syndrome failed in her attempt to overturn the UK’s abortion laws, with the High Court ruling that unborn babies who are disabled can be aborted after 24 weeks.

Heidi Carter went to the High Court to challenge the current abortion law which allows parents to have abortions where there is a severe fetal abnormality at any time during the pregnancy, up until birth.

Carter spoke to Sky News ahead of the ruling and said that whatever decision came back, she would appeal it, as she intends to end the UK’s “downright discriminatory” abortion laws.

Carter got married last year and believes that her life is no less valuable than others.

“I don’t like to have to justify my existence, it makes me feel like I’m not as valuable as anyone else. It makes me feel like I shouldn’t be here,” Carter said.

Abortions are permitted in the first 24 weeks of pregnancy in England, Scotland and Wales. A minimum of two doctors must concur that going ahead with he birth would pose a higher health risk to the mother, either mental or physical, than having an abortion.

Under UK law, a woman can have an abortion after 24 weeks if there is a significant risk to her health or the child has a disability, including down syndrome.

Carter said she was “really upset” by the decision but said that “[she] will keep on fighting.”

She stood by her husband James and said “I’m really upset not to win, but the fight is not over.

“The judges might not think it discriminates against me, the government might not think it discriminates against me, but I’m telling you that I do feel discriminated against, and the verdict doesn’t change how I and thousands in the Down’s syndrome community feel,” she said.

“We face discrimination every day in schools, in the workplace and in society. Thanks to the verdict, the judges have upheld discrimination in the womb too. This is a very sad day, but I will keep on fighting.”