Professor Richard Dawkins provoked fury yesterday after advocating the abortion of foetuses with Down’s syndrome.
The scientist suggested on Twitter that a foetus with the condition should be aborted as it has no “enhanced ability”.
At first the professor circulated an article highlighting the situation of women in Ireland, where abortion is illegal, after the country refused to provide a safe abortion to a suicidal rape victim. He said that Ireland “is a civilised country except in this one area”.
When one woman responded saying that she did not know what she would do if she were pregnant with a baby suffering from Down’s syndrome, Professor Dawkins replied: “Abort it and try again. It would be immoral to bring it into the world if you