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Nine out of ten Down’s foetuses aborted

Nine out of ten women in Norway whose unborn child is diagnosed with Downs Syndrome choose to have an abortion, new figures from the country's Medical Birth Registry have shown.

Published: 3 March 2014 13:37 CET

Down's Syndrome actor Svein André Hofsø Myhre stars as Detective Downs in last year's film by Norwegian director Bård Breien:

According to registry data, 69 foetuses with Down Syndrome were aborted in 2012, representing as many as 87 percent of those diagnosed with the condition

Down Syndrome, which happens when people have a third copy of chromosome 21, causes decreased cognitive abilities, stunted physical growth, and a distinctive flat nose and slanted eyes.

Some 49 children were born with the condition in 2012, three of whom were stillborn.

"This is a strong signal that we have failed as a society," Dagrun Eriksen, the deputy leader of Norway's Christian Democrats, which is opposed to abortion in most cases, told the Dagsavisen newspaper.

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