GERMANY, September 13, 2017 (LifeSiteNews) – A teen with Down syndrome put German Chancellor Angela Merkel on the spot when she asked her about supporting late-term abortion.
Germany's federal election is later this month.
“Nine out of 10 babies with Down syndrome are not born in Germany,” 18-year-old Natalie Dedreux said to Merkel. “They’re going to be aborted.”
“A baby with Down syndrome may be aborted until just a few days before birth,” she said. “This is known as ‘late removal.’ My colleagues and I ask you … where do you stand on the subject of late removal?”
“Why is it allowed to abort babies with Down syndrome until just before birth?” Dedreux continued. “I don’t think it’s good politically. This topic is important to me. I do not want to be aborted, but to remain in the world.”
A German-speaking source translated Merkel’s comments, which are not subtitled in the below video, for LifeSiteNews.
Merkel praised Dedreux for bringing up the question.
“I was raised in the DDR, in an area where there were children with mental disabilities,” Merkel said. “There was absolutely no support, there was nothing there. And that is one of the biggest advantages of German unity that one can see in you today: what one can accomplish with support, good care, and education.”
She then said her party, the Christian Democratic Union, supports mandatory counseling of parents and a three-day waiting period before a late-term abortion.
“It was unbelievably difficult to get a majority for that,” said Merkel.
Merkel then defended the right of parents to obtain late-term abortions, saying it was ultimately their free choice.
“But when someone sees how awesome a person like you is,” Merkel began, but was cut off by applause.
Almost every single baby diagnosed prenatally with Down Syndrome in Iceland is aborted. In 2009, only three babies with Down Syndrome were born in the entire country.
Most of the Western world isn’t far behind Iceland. Denmark aborts 98 percent of babies with Down syndrome. The statistics are similarly high at well over 50 percent for Germany, France, Great Britain, and the United States.
After years of decline, Germany’s abortion rate went back up slightly in 2016.