Heidi Crowter to take Down's syndrome case to European Court of Human Rights

A woman with Down's syndrome fighting against abortion laws says she is taking her case to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR).

Heidi Crowter previously challenged legislation allowing foetuses with the condition to be aborted up until birth.

But in November 2022 Judges at the Court of Appeal decided the Abortion Act did not interfere with the rights of the living disabled.

The campaigner had argued that the rules were discriminatory.

Ms Crowter, 27, from Coventry, said she was taking her case to the Strasbourg court "because it is downright discrimination that people with disabilities are treated differently".

"In 2023, we live in a society where disabled people are valued equally after birth but not in the womb," she said.

Under legislation in England, Wales and Scotland, there is a 24-week time limit for abortion, unless "there is a substantial risk that if the child were born it would suffer from such physical or mental abnormalities as to be seriously handicapped", which includes Down's syndrome.

In September 2021, High Court judges found the section of the Abortion Act pertaining to the condition to not be unlawful, adding that it aimed to strike a balance between the rights of the unborn child and of women, in a case brought by Ms Crowter and Maire Lea-Wilson from west London, whose son Aidan has Down's syndrome.

Posting on social media Ms Crowter said her legal team had sought permission to appeal to the ECHR after the UK Supreme Court refused to hear her case.

If successful, a European Court ruling "could not only have implications for the United Kingdom, but also set a legal precedent for all 46 countries that are members of the Council of Europe," said campaign group Don't Screen Us Out.

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