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Down's Syndrome test could result in 'conveyor belt' of abortions, warns Christian parent

by Hannah Tooley

The new test will become available on the NHS and can accurately say how likely it is a baby has the condition.

Lynn Murray is a Christian and spokesperson for the group Don't Screen Us Out spokesperson. She has a daughter has Down's Syndrome and told Premier's News Hour she thinks there will be an increase in abortions.

She said: "The hype around the new test is that you're going to go and you're going have a blood test at an early stage in pregnancy and you'll get a result. It means that more women will take screening than they did previously - because they feared the invasive test.

"As more women take it up it'll become harder for people to spend time with them and counsel them to come to the best decision for them.

"So that's the fear, that we will just simple became a conveyor belt of abortion for Down's Syndrome."

She was speaking as the Non-Invasive Prenatal Testing is set to become available more wisely.

The research estimates that 90% of women with an unborn baby with Down's Syndrome opt for an abortion.

Families with children with Down's children do not want the test to become available, saying the condition is not a disease to be got rid of, however, others say the test gives parents more choice.

Lynn Murray said people are not well-informed about the condition.

She said: "Often the thing about Down's Syndrome is that people fear it, people don't know what it is.

"We need to be calm and think things through and look round us and think we should always have hope about the future."

It is thought the technique is 99% accurate at telling pregnant woman how likely their baby is to have the condition.

Whitehall told the Daily Mail the government is "poised" to approve the scheme, that is estimated to cost £280 per pregnant woman tested.

Lynn Murray said it is the first step towards designer babies: "It's the first of many tests, there's no doubt in anyone's mind that this is just the first kind of test, they can at the moment get the whole genome, but once they can do that less expensively they will begin to offer tests for all sorts of characteristics - and where does that end up?"

She told Premier that Christians can pray for parents making these decisions: "Pray for wisdom, discernment and calm."

Listen to Premier's Aaron James speak to Lynn Murray here:

 
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