A pro-life group has called on the Scottish Government to do more to protect the unborn after new figures revealed an all-time high in abortions of disabled babies in Scotland.

The figures released by the NHS in Scotland found there were 216 abortions because of disability in 2016, a 57 per cent rise from the 2011 figure of 136.

John Deighan, CEO of the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children Scotland, said: “In Scotland, we rightly go to great lengths to accommodate people with a disability, yet as a society we are eradicating them before they are born, thus sending a bleak message to our disability community.”

Disability screening

Of the 216 disability abortions, more than one in three were because of Down’s syndrome.

The NHS report suggests that this is due to the rise in the screening of unborn children for disability.

The figures also revealed that abortion rates for women in the most deprived areas of Scotland were double that of those from the least deprived areas.

‘Tragedy’

Deighan said: “Every abortion is a tragedy, however, the fact that poorer women are more likely to have an abortion highlights that the government has failed women by failing to provide a lack of viable alternatives”.

“The minority pushing the abortion agenda are way out of step with the rest of society”, he added.

Deighan went on to say: “SPUC Scotland call on the Scottish Government to provide a more consistent approach when it comes to more weak and vulnerable members of society, and not eliminate them in the womb.”

It is currently legal in Great Britain to abort children up to 24 weeks, or up to birth if doctors believe the baby will be born with a disability.