Perfect People

In the newspapers recently I read that twenty foetuses nationally have been aborted late on in pregnancy because they were found to have such defects as club foot or cleft palate - both now correctable with modern medical intervention.

Thinking about this, here is a photo of Helaina, which I took last week at a birthday party:

Helaina has Costello's Syndrome , which is a very rare genetic disorder with only about 200 reported cases worldwide. She is the daughter of my cousin Colin and his wife Kath: here they are all together:

Helaina is twelve. As you can see, she is tiny. She has multiple handicaps and has had cancer and spinal problems.

She clearly feels loved and secure. At the party she had a digital camera and went round taking lots of photos, laughing with pleasure. Her parents have worked incredibly hard to give her the best possible quality of life, and nobody could have done a better job than they have.

Many people, if they knew they were expecting the birth of a child with multiple handicaps, would have an abortion. In these circumstances I am not anti-abortion: I think it's a matter of personal choice. Some people would simply not be able to cope and the child would have a very poor quality of life.

However, aborting an otherwise healthy, wanted foetus because it is known to have a club foot or a cleft palate is not only wrong in itself, it's a step down a slippery slope. The thinking goes: if your baby isn't going to be perfect, why not get rid of it and try again?

What if they could check your unborn baby for such factors as blonde hair, or not being very clever at maths, or having little aptitude for team games, or being frightened of horses, or not having a Pollyanna-type overly-cheery personality?

"Oh no," you say, "of course I wouldn't have an abortion for any of those reasons."

And I know you wouldn't, and I wouldn't either. But some people would, and it's wrong.