Every person has a right to life. So the foetus has a right to life. No doubt the mother has a right to decide what shall happen in and to her body; everyone would grant that. But surely a person’s right to life is stronger and more stringent than the mother’s right to decide what happens in and to her body, and so outweighs it which defends abortion as the mother is of more importance. In extreme circumstance an ectopic pregnancy is when the fertilised ovum becomes attached to the wall of the fallopian tube. To continue with the pregnancy would lead to the death of both the mother and the child. In these circumstances, the uterus is removed and the embryo dies. A Christian response to this makes uses of the ‘double-effect’ rule. The doctors intend to save the mother, rather than killing the foetus, so the action is morally permissible. Peter Vardy identified a problem with the ‘double-effect’; new laser technology will enable women to have a safer operation which involves the foetus being ‘lasered’ rather than the fallopian tube removed. The result for the mother is much better, but it’s difficult to suggest that the death of the foetus in this case is a secondary feature. All that is really different is the intention of the doctor. Vardy draws a line at a particular point in the foetus’ development to indicate that before this point the foetus is tissue, and after is a person but it is hard to know when.

Disabled people aren't just asexual. We're both adult male and female oh and not to forget transexual . More to the point if we're female just like other non disabled women we want the right to have control over our own bodies^[1] . While there may be a high amount of people being aborted further restrictions or a blanket ban is not the way about eliminating the prejudice towards disabled people which can easily be shown by people who are anti abortion in other ways. Instead more opportunities should be given to provide information to women who are going through pre-natal tests or thinking about the possibility of having one. Also pro choice groups like abortion rights support the social model supporting the equal treatment of people with physical disabilities, something that includes over access to abortion.^[2]

1. ^ National Union of Students "Liberation Officers in Every Union"http://resource.nusonline.co.uk/media/resource/2007_liberation_officers
2. ^ Abortion Rights "statement on disability" http://www.abortionrights.org.uk/content/view/40/129/

The Universal Declaration of the Rights of the Child and the Declaration of the rights of the child are exactly what they set out to be: Declarations that have no binding or legal authority so they do not confer any rights and should be seen as aspirational. Furthermore the UN convention on the rights of Persons with Disabilities which was ratified in 2008 ( which is binding to member states) provide sexual and reproductive rights for women^[1]. The Convention on The Rights of Persons with Disabilities does this in article 25 section a^[2] . Reproductive rights as well as sexual health mean that a women has access and control over how many children she has, if any. While it may fly in the face of policies such as the One Child Policy employed by the People's Republic of China, it also flies in the face of the policy employed by Nicaragua restricting abortion.

1. ^ "Backgrounder: Disability Treaty Closes a Gap in Protecting Human Rights" http://www.un.org/disabilities/default.asp?id=476 Accessed for 5.06.09
2. ^ http://www.un.org/disabilities/documents/convention/convoptprot-e.pdf Accessed 5.06.09