Right to Life celebrates October Down syndrome awareness month
Media Release 28 October 2026
Every child conceived with Down syndrome is a unique and unrepeatable miracle of God’s loving creation who deserves our love and protection.
Right to Life knows that there is an international campaign to eliminate Down syndrome by killing God’s precious infants, unborn babies with Down syndrome, the campaign is promoted under the guise of promoting choice.
Down syndrome in pregnancy is a genetic condition where the child develops with an extra copy of chromosome 21 (trisomy 21), which can be identified through optional prenatal screening and diagnostic tests. The extra chromosome should not be a sentence of death.
Right to Life agrees with disability support groups who claim that widespread screening for Down syndrome devalues individuals living with Down syndrome, and promotes the annual killing of 3,000 to 5,000 children with Down syndrome before birth internationally. This is a violation of the fifth commandment of God, You shall not kill, a violation of human rights and a crime against humanity.
Right to Life asks: Why is our government not protecting the lives of our precious children with Down syndrome?
The New Zealand Ministry of Health provides state-funded ante-natal screening for Down syndrome and other disabilities. The current abortion law allows for the killing of unborn children with Down syndrome, with fully funded abortions effectively up to birth.
Zandra Vaccarino, the Executive Officer of the NZ Down Syndrome Association has complained of some doctors providing biased information and pressuring women to abort their child with Down syndrome. As a consequence it is estimated that between 80 and 140 unborn children diagnosed with Down syndrome through screening are aborted each year in New Zealand i.e. 71%. This compares with 90% in the UK and Germany, 98% in Denmark and 67% in the USA.
Down syndrome is a mild to moderate disability. Persons with Down syndrome make a substantial contribution to our families and to our community. They can attend college, pursue careers, get married and live independent lives.
Right to Life applauds those parents who commendably choose life for their unborn children diagnosed with Down syndrome. It is estimated that about 50 babies are born with Down syndrome in New Zealand every year.
Right to Life grieves with those families who sadly succumbed to clinical and societal pressure to terminate the life of their unborn child diagnosed with Down syndrome.
Ken Orr,
Spokesperson,
Right to Life New Zealand Inc.
