It has been announced that there will be a debate and vote in the Northern Ireland Assembly this Tuesday (2nd June) on the following motion:

“That this Assembly welcomes the important intervention of disability campaigner Heidi Crowter and rejects the imposition of abortion legislation which extends to all non-fatal disabilities, including Down’s syndrome.”

The motion has been tabled in response to Heidi Crowter, the 24-year-old disability campaigner, who spoke out (see Belfast Telegraph article here) against the proposal of the British Government to impose on Northern Ireland abortion up to birth in cases of disabilities like Heidi’s own, Down’s syndrome.

Heidi wrote to the Party Leaders at Stormont, asking them to take the lead and do everything they can to oppose abortion on the basis of disability up until birth. She said: “Please do not let a law come into practice which will end lives on the basis of disability and stop people like me coming into the world.”

If this motion passes, it will demonstrate to Heidi and other people with Down’s syndrome in Northern Ireland, that Northern Ireland opposes any move to allow babies with Down’s syndrome to be aborted up until birth. While this will not change the law at this stage, it will send a very important message.

Further information on the new extreme abortion regulations introduced by these regulations is available here.