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Nine Out of Ten Mothers in Norway Choose Abortion for Down Diagnosis

New figures from the Medical Birth Registry (Medisinsk fødselsregister) show that 49 children were born with Downs in 2012. This is the lowest figure since the birth registration has started to be applied in 1999, writes Dagsavisen. 

According to the newspaper’s report, about nine out of ten pregnant women terminated their pregnancy, when they learned that the fetus had Down syndrome. The percentage has been between 80 and 90 percent for several years. As a result, 69 fetuses with Down were aborted in 2012. 

Christian Democrat deputy Dagrun Eriksen found the trend as a strong signal of failing society, even though she emphasized that she does not criticize the individual’s choice to have abortion. 

– First and foremost, we as politicians should criticize ourselves. The most important thing is that parents who give birth to disabled children should get the help they need, she says. 

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Down syndrome (DS) or Down’s syndrome is a genetic disorder caused by the presence of all or part of a third copy of chromosome 21. It is typically associated with physical growth delays, characteristic facial features and mild to moderate intellectual disability. The average IQ of a young adult with Down syndrome is 50, similar to the mental age of an 8 or 9 year old child, but this varies widely.

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