Down Syndrome abortions up 80 per cent in 4 years in Scotland

4th June 2025

The abortion rate of babies with Down Syndrome in Scotland has increased by more than 80 per cent in four years as the total number of abortions in the country hit a record high last year.

There were 18,710 ​abortions carried out in Scotland in 2024 — a rise of 3 per cent (468) from the previous year’s total of 18,242. This compares with 10,000 in Ireland even though Ireland and Scotland have similar sized populations. ​There was also a significant increase in abortions where the foetus had Down Syndrome, from 52 in 2023 to 60 the following year. This is in line with cheaper, earlier screening tests for the condition.

The figure is an 82 per cent increase from 2021, when there were 33 such abortions.

The figures also show that there were 280 abortions where a baby had a disability. This number is a 26% increase from 2021, when there were 222 such abortions.

Lynn Murray, spokeswoman for Don’t Screen Us Out, a charity which wants to update the legislation to ensure that unborn babies diagnosed with Down Syndrome are not singled out by abortion law, said: “It is deeply concerning that despite the leaps advocacy groups have made in raising awareness in support of people with Down’s syndrome, abortion in the case of Down Syndrome is still so commonplace and widespread in the UK”.

The Iona Institute
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