English Script Request

Two professors have created a public storm, in the U.K., of an article advocating the use of so called, "After Birth Abortions". They say it's merely an academic discussion with the medical journal which published the article defending the debate, but for some the idea is a step to far as RT's Ivar Bennett reports.

<0:18>
Shelley Thoupos was eight months pregnant when she found out her son would be born with Down Syndrome. Even as late as that, the only advise she got was to have an abortion. Doctors tried to persuade her, Sam's condition would be a struggle not worth living, but six years on, the only struggle mother and child have had was ignoring that advice.

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((Shelley Thoupos Mother))
I could start all over again and I was choosing not to, and I was treated as something that was.... something of a... something of a abnormality actually. I was treated as if I was just a bit stupid. So, umm..
It's very sad to think that they are the people who are giving advice to mothers. They have a duty to everyone, they've taken an oath to preserve life. And they don't, a lot of them I feel, don't feel that our children are worth preserving, they're not worth saving, they're not worth having, and that really isn't the case.

<1:15>

That stereotype has just been taken a whole lot further by two ethicists who argue, it's okay to kill babies, even after they're born. The controversial comments were published by the Oxford educated professors in a leading British Medical Journal. They dismiss the newborns as "potential and not actual persons". They say, "killing them is no different to a normal prenatal abortion" but critics branded infanticide.

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((Anthony Ozimic - Society for the protection for unborn children))

It was a speculative case, and this article has been defended on the grounds of free speech, but would we accept for example, an article advocating that Jews or Blacks were not persons, only potential persons, and they could also be killed.I sorta asked the question; Is a newborn child any less of an equal member of the human, then a member of certain race, or of one gender or the other, what really is the difference?

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The authors have stoked an ethical storm by advocating after birth abortions in all cases. Even if the baby is not disabled. Abortions are only permitted in Britain on non-medical ground during the first twenty-four weeks of a pregnancy. The authors have now received death threats and say "they were merely making an academic discussion." They refuse to give an interview, but its a line the journal's editors defend.

<2:39>
((Dr Kenneth Boyd - Editor, Journal of Medical Ethics))
Are job is to publish arguments for and against controversial issues. So that people can make up their own minds in the long run. And some of these issues are very complex. And um..well personally for example, I don't agree with the umm.. the conclusions of the paper; I would like to defend people's right to express these views. And other peoples right to respond to them.

<3:05>

Academic discussion or not, the articles promoted outrage not only among pro life groups but also mothers of children with disabilities who declined the option of abortion.

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((Shelley Thoupos Mother))
It was a horrific article, it was horrible. There definitely seems to be a trend, now, to say that... you know these children shouldn't be here. It's not something terrible, it's not awful, just because it's not what you imagined, doesn't mean it's not something fantastic because having Sam in our life is amazing, absolutely amazing.

<3:38>

Sam's a member of his local swimming club and plays football too. Seeing him here, it's hard to believe how doctors could say, his life would be a burden. Ivar Bennett. RT. London.