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Cleft lip abortions increase 150%

The number of abortions performed on unborn babies with cleft lip and palate has increased 150% since 2011, in England & Wales.

The new figures, released in response to a parliamentary question by pro-life MP Fiona Bruce, revealed that there were 10 terminations for those with the condition in 2011 with the figure rising to 25 in 2018 – representing a 150% increase.

The data also found that there had been a total of 223 abortions on unborn babies with cleft lip over the last 10 years.

However, the figures are likely to be even higher as abortions for cleft lip are routinely under-reported. 

In 2013, findings from a European register revealed that abortions for cleft lip and palate can be over ten times more common than what is being reported.

Eurocat, which was set up to register congenital abnormalities across 23 countries, found that 157 unborn babies, with the condition, were aborted in England and Wales between 2006 and 2010.

The Department of Health only recorded 14 such abortions, during that time, but admitted in a 2014 report that some disability abortions had been wrongly recorded.

Joan Morris, national coordinator for Eurocat and professor of medical statistics at Queen Mary, University of London, said the group also found the number of babies aborted in 2010 for Down’s Syndrome was double that recorded officially – 886 compared to 482.

She told The Sunday Times: “Babies are aborted for Down’s and they still don’t put that on the abortion form, so if they can’t do it for Down’s, why would they put cleft lip?” 

Currently, abortion is available up to birth in England, Wales and Scotland if the baby has a disability, including Down’s syndrome, cleft lip and club foot whereas if the baby does not have a condition, there is a 24-week time limit.

A 24-year-old woman with Down’s syndrome has now launched a landmark case against the UK Government over the discriminatory abortion law that singles out people like her.

Heidi Crowter has joined with Cheryl Bilsborrow, whose two-year-old son Hector has Down’s syndrome, to bring forward the case. 

Heidi Crowter, who has the condition and is getting married this summer, told the BBC’s Victoria Derbyshire programme she is challenging the current law because it is “deeply offensive” and makes her feel “unloved and unwanted”.

Cheryl told the BBC that the current law was “downright discrimination” and disclosed how she felt “pressured to terminate”, saying she was offered an abortion at full term, just three days before giving birth to Hector.

Cheryl recalled a medical professional saying: “You do know we still terminate babies with Down’s syndrome at 38 weeks?.” 

Mothers whose children were born with a cleft lip and palate have recently spoken out in horror that the proposed abortion framework that the Conservative Government is contemplating imposing on Northern Ireland will allow babies with the condition to be aborted up to birth.

Last year, in the absence of a functioning Stormont Assembly, politicians in Westminster voted to impose an extreme abortion regime on Northern Ireland which would also allow abortion for disability up to birth. 

Terri Thomas told Right To Life UK: “To read that some people [in Northern Ireland] may now consider a termination simply because of a cleft lip or palate is so upsetting”.

Another mother, with a similar experience to Terri, was distraught and heart-broken when she heard that the proposed change in the law would mean that unborn babies could be aborted just because they had a cleft lip and palate. 

Over 1,600 people with Down’s syndrome and their families have signed an open letter urging the UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson not to introduce abortion up to birth for babies with the condition in Northern Ireland.

The United Nations’ Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities’ concluding observations on the initial report of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland made a key recommendation that the UK change its abortion law on disability so that it does not single out babies with disabilities. However, the Government has decided to ignore this recommendation.

The Disability Rights Commission (now the Equality and Human Rights Commission) has said that this aspect of the Abortion Act “is offensive to many people; it reinforces negative stereotypes of disability…[and] is incompatible with valuing disability and non-disability equally”.

The 2013 Parliamentary Inquiry into Abortion for Disability found the vast majority of those who gave evidence believed allowing abortion up to birth on the grounds of disability is discriminatory, contrary to the spirit of the Equality Act 2010 and that it affects wider public attitudes towards discrimination. The Inquiry recommended Parliament reviews the question of allowing abortion on the grounds of disability and should consider repealing section 1(1)(d) of the Abortion Act which allows for it.

Disabled peer Lord Shinkwin has previously had a Bill in the House of Lords that would have repealed section 1(1)(d) of the Abortion Act – the Bill was undefeated but unfortunately ran out of time. Lord Shinkwin’s Bill was supported by Disability Rights UK.

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Help stop three major anti-life threats.

Help fight the next phase of our battles against major assisted suicide and abortion up to birth threats.

Dear reader,

We are facing two major threats in the Lords - an extreme assisted suicide Bill and an abortion up to birth amendment.

THE GOOD NEWS - OUR STRATEGY IS WORKING

At Second Reading of the Leadbeater assisted suicide Bill in the House of Lords, a record number of Peers spoke, and of those who took a position, around two-thirds opposed the assisted suicide Bill. That is more than double the number who supported it.

Our side also secured a significant win, with the establishment of a dedicated Lords Select Committee to further scrutinise the Bill’s proposals – and Committee Stage has been delayed until it reports.

This momentum has been built by tens of thousands of people like you. Thanks to your hard work, Peers are receiving a very large number of emails and letters by post, making the case against the Bill. 

Thanks to your support, we have been able to mount a major campaign in Parliament, in the media and online – alongside your own efforts – to keep us on course for our goal: that this dangerous Bill never becomes law.

BUT MORE CHALLENGES LIE AHEAD

We cannot become complacent. Well-funded groups - Dignity in Dying, My Death My Decision and Humanists UK - have poured millions into pushing assisted suicide. They can see support is slipping and will fight hard to reverse that.

This is not the only fight we are facing in the House of Lords.

At the same time, the Antoniazzi abortion up to birth amendment, which passed in the House of Commons in June, is moving through the House of Lords as part of the Crime and Policing Bill.

Second Reading will take place in a matter of weeks. It will then go on to Committee and Report Stages, where we will be up against the UK’s largest abortion providers – BPAS and MSI Reproductive Choices (formerly Marie Stopes) – who are expected to lobby for even more extreme changes to our abortion laws.

If the Antoniazzi amendment becomes law, it would no longer be illegal for women to perform their own abortions for any reason – including sex-selective purposes – at any point up to and during birth.

Thousands of vulnerable lives - at the beginning and the end of life - depend on what happens next. We must do everything in our power to stop these radical proposals.

WE NEED YOUR HELP

Our campaign against the Leadbeater Bill in the House of Lords is working, but the work we have already done has significantly stretched our limited resources.

We are now stepping up our efforts against the assisted suicide Bill while launching a major push to stop the abortion up to birth amendment in the Lords. 

To fight effectively on both fronts, we aim to raise £183,750 by midnight this Sunday (5 October 2025).

Every donation, large or small, will help protect lives, and UK taxpayers can add 25p to every £1 through Gift Aid at no extra cost.

Will you donate now to help protect vulnerable lives from these two major threats?

URGENT
APPEAL
to protect vulnerable lives

Help stop three major anti-life threats.

Help fight the next phase of our battles against major assisted suicide and abortion up to birth threats.