‘Send a message all lives are valued’ call from anti-abortion campaigner ahead of Stormont motion

A Stormont vote against new wide-ranging abortion legislation will tell the world that Northern Ireland values everyone equally, a Down’s Syndrome campaigner has said.
A campaigner with Down's Syndrome. Photo: Heidi Crowter/PA Wire

NA campaigner with Down's Syndrome. Photo: Heidi Crowter/PA Wire

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A campaigner with Down's Syndrome. Photo: Heidi Crowter/PA Wire N

Heidi Crowter said it was “hurtful and offensive” for the UK Government to introduce the new regulations while the NI Assembly was suspended, but said MLAs now have a chance to affirm the value of people with Down’s and other disabilities.

Ahead of a Stormont debate scheduled to take place tomorrow Ms Crowter has penned an open letter, calling on all MLAs to back a DUP motion against the Westminster-imposed abortion law overhaul.

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The assembly motion states: “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.”

New regulations allow terminations on request in Northern Ireland for the first 12 weeks of pregnancy and up to 24 weeks where there is a risk of injury to the physical or mental health of the pregnant woman or girl.

The Abortion (Northern Ireland) Regulations also allow for terminations up to birth on the grounds of what is described as “serious disability.”

In the open letter to MLAs, Ms Crowter said: “As a person who has Down’s Syndrome, I find this proposal for Northern Ireland deeply hurtful and offensive.

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“It tells me that I am not equal to other people, not worthy of the same level of legal protection as someone who does not have Down’s Syndrome or a similar non-fatal disability.”

The letter in full:

“Dear MLA,

I am writing to you to ask you to vote in favour of the following motion on Tuesday 2 June: ‘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.’

Regulation 7 of the Abortion (Northern Ireland) Regulations allows for abortion up to birth on the grounds of what is described as ‘serious disability.’

This has the same meaning as the equivalent British legislation which permits abortion on the basis of non-fatal disabilities like Downs Syndrome, a condition I have, right up till birth.

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As a person who has Down’s Syndrome, I find this proposal for Northern Ireland deeply hurtful and offensive. It tells me that I am not equal to other people, not worthy of the same level of legal protection as someone who does not have Down’s Syndrome or a similar non-fatal disability.

I think that the law should say that people with Down’s Syndrome in Northern Ireland, or another non-fatal disability, are just as precious as people who don’t have such a disability, just like it does in the Republic of Ireland.

That is why I am now challenging the equivalent law in Great Britain through a lawyer.

I would like to ask you to put any party-political issues to one side and vote for this motion. This is not a party-political matter but a matter of equality and of standing against disability discrimination.

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Please vote for this motion so the Northern Ireland Assembly can tell the world that you will not accept a law being passed that seeks to prevent people like me being born, that tells us that we are not as valuable as people without Down’s Syndrome or other non-fatal disabilities.

Please vote to create an environment that makes it easier, and not harder, for people to recognise and see the beauty behind the extra chromosome.

Yours sincerely

Heidi

Heidi Crowter”