Abortion law proposals are controversial

I AM writing to you because people in Guernsey have made me aware of the proposal to change your abortion legislation and because they have asked me to write to you.

The proposal to allow abortion up until birth in cases of significant impairment has been permitted in England since 1990. This law is 30 years old and was passed before we had disability discrimination laws and guidance.

It gives unborn viable babies, from 24 weeks in the womb, less protection in law if they have a disability than those of the same age who are non-disabled. This greater level of legal protection for some suggests that those with a disability are less worthy of protection than others and this affects public attitudes to disability.

As someone with Down syndrome I, like many others with disabilities, find the law deeply hurtful and offensive.

As the charity Disability Rights UK has said, ‘Fundamentally it is about equality. Wherever Parliament sets the number of weeks after which abortion is not permitted, it should be exactly the same whether the pregnancy is likely to result in a disabled or a non-disabled child.

All lives are equal’.

The law is also contrary to the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the committee issued the following warning to the British Government in October 2017: ‘The committee is concerned about perceptions in society that stigmatise persons with disabilities... and about the termination of pregnancy at any stage on the basis of foetal impairment... The committee recommends that the [UK] amend its abortion law accordingly...’

I am now challenging the disability discrimination in Britain’s abortion law and was deeply shocked to discover that, on Guernsey, a proposal was being made in 2020 to allow abortion on the basis of ‘significant impairment’ up to birth in order to ‘modernise’ Guernsey’s law and bring it into line with that of Great Britain. I was even more shocked to discover that this was being proposed during lockdown and without the opportunities for the public to know more about this. Also, I understand that your parliament has been working over recent years to bring in disability discrimination legislation and the proposals are due to be presented to you in the next few months. It seems contradictory and somewhat insincere to be seeking to protect disability rights on the one hand and lessen protection on the other.

The law changes proposed are deeply controversial and I hope that States members will stop to give this greater thought and give time for a good number of public meetings on the island to consider the proposals, listening to the perspective of all, including those living with disability.

HEIDI CROWTER

Address withheld.