Ever since advanced prenatal screening became accessible, a significant number of pregnancies with Down syndrome have been diagnosed in Australia and consequently terminated. Births with Down syndrome in Australia have reduced by 66% since the 1970s.

So if it wasn’t for elective pregnancy termination after a prenatal screening, which shows that the fetus is growing with a chromosomal abnormality, there would have been 23,156 people with Down syndrome in Australia. But because of timely diagnosis and the availability of safe pregnancy termination, the current Down syndrome population is 13,426 in the country. Although the current number has gone up from 2,852 people with the syndrome in 1950, it’s still progress, given the nation’s population surge between the 1950s and 2020s.

Abortion is a growing threat to the Down syndrome community; in Europe, the birth rate for babies with Down syndrome has dropped 54%. Denmark and Iceland both, as cited in the report, have nearly eradicated Down syndrome through abortion. Denmark specifically made international headlines when just 18 children with the condition were born in 2019. Iceland boasted of having a nearly 100% abortion rate for preborn children diagnosed with Down syndrome. Australian media also excitedly praised prenatal screening which they said could “effectively end Down syndrome.”

While the same could easily happen in the United States, the fall of Roe v. Wade last year meant that states could enact their own laws regarding abortion, and in pro-life states, more children with Down syndrome are being born. It is a clear sign that abortion can easily be used with a eugenic purpose, and for the Down syndrome community, that means the difference between life and death.

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Ever since advanced prenatal screening became accessible, a significant number of pregnancies with Down syndrome have been diagnosed in Australia and consequently terminated. Births with Down syndrome in Australia have reduced by 66% since the 1970s.

So if it wasn’t for elective pregnancy termination after a prenatal screening, which shows that the fetus is growing with a chromosomal abnormality, there would have been 23,156 people with Down syndrome in Australia. But because of timely diagnosis and the availability of safe pregnancy termination, the current Down syndrome population is 13,426 in the country. Although the current number has gone up from 2,852 people with the syndrome in 1950, it’s still progress, given the nation’s population surge between the 1950s and 2020s.

Abortion is a growing threat to the Down syndrome community; in Europe, the birth rate for babies with Down syndrome has dropped 54%. Denmark and Iceland both, as cited in the report, have nearly eradicated Down syndrome through abortion. Denmark specifically made international headlines when just 18 children with the condition were born in 2019. Iceland boasted of having a nearly 100% abortion rate for preborn children diagnosed with Down syndrome. Australian media also excitedly praised prenatal screening which they said could “effectively end Down syndrome.”

While the same could easily happen in the United States, the fall of Roe v. Wade last year meant that states could enact their own laws regarding abortion, and in pro-life states, more children with Down syndrome are being born. It is a clear sign that abortion can easily be used with a eugenic purpose, and for the Down syndrome community, that means the difference between life and death.