Many of us remember at least one morning in our childhoods when fate threw us some unexpected twist and we knew instantly that life would never be the same.

Mine came in July 1991, two months shy of my fifth birthday. I had just received the news from my aunt that my mum had gone into labour overnight; my siblings and I had a new sister. We were gleefully baking biscuits that morning when we heard my father’s car on the drive returning from the hospital. But someone almost unrecognisable walked into the kitchen; shell-shocked, with a ghostly pallor. Something was wrong.

We cannot legislate for the total eradication of suffering and it would be dangerous to try

Today, hundreds of women in the UK will discover they’re pregnant. Those who choose to keep their baby will be offered a blood test, usually at their 12-week scan. This will reveal how probable it is that their child has Down’s syndrome. For some women, the results of that test will cause them to end their pregnancy.

Abortion is legal in the UK for up to 24 weeks. The 1967 Act also states that abortion up to birth is permitted if ‘there is a substantial risk’ of abnormalities which would render the child ‘seriously handicapped’.

Around 90 per cent of babies found to have Down’s syndrome are believed to be aborted in the UK. Given the mounting evidence that the Down’s community is facing erasure, the law has recently been challenged in the courts by Heidi Crowter, a young woman who has the condition.

Crowter’s case was rejected by the High Court and Court of Appeal, but now Sir Liam Fox MP – a committed advocate for the rights of those with Down’s syndrome – has tabled an amendment to the Criminal Justice Bill supporting it. This amendment would prohibit abortion on the grounds of Down’s syndrome after 24 weeks’ gestation. In 2021, there were 24 such abortions, up from 14 the year before. Fox told the Times he has ‘considerable cross-party support’ for the move.

I sincerely hope he succeeds. On that day back in 1991, my parents were told that my sister Anna had Down’s and were asked by the social worker if they would be taking their new daughter home.

But who could have told them what we all know now? The arrival of my younger sister was not in fact a tragedy – it is one of the best things that ever happened to any of us.

I am not claiming there haven’t been difficulties but having a sibling with Down’s syndrome changed my own life irrevocably for the better. Anna also has a rare form of epilepsy, and she has never managed to walk or talk due to brain damage. Yet I can honestly say that my sister has taught me more than any Cambridge professor or Dominican priest about life’s biggest questions. With no mobility, she is still the strongest and most resilient person I know, who has maintained a quiet dignity while enduring many physical challenges.

If there is any glimmer of goodness within me, it is mostly down to Anna. She has inspired me to see the world in a radically different way. I have witnessed what a truly supportive marriage is through observing my selfless parents caring for her. It might sound trite but, thanks to their example, I know what true love really is.

And what about Anna? What about her quality of life, you might well be yelling. The honest answer is I don’t know for sure – she cannot tell me. But I do know she is enveloped with love.

What I also know is that we cannot legislate for the total eradication of suffering and it would be dangerous to try. Consider, for example, that we are still in a situation where around 40 babies are aborted each year in the UK for having a cleft lip or palate, even after Joanna Jepson’s brave attempts to highlight this travesty. If we permit this injustice for a minor ‘abnormality’ which can be corrected with surgery, is it any surprise there has been no progress regarding the rights of unborn babies with Down’s syndrome?

At this point, you might be wondering: am I some kind of religious nutjob wading into the abortion debate? Well, I confess that I’m a Catholic. But when it comes to abortion, I’m not here to present a religious case. Whatever your religious or political persuasions, when the vast majority of Down’s babies’ lives are terminated, it strongly suggests that this is not just about ‘choice’. Rather it is about a devastatingly irreversible choice, in particular.

Let’s not forget how often we hear that able-bodied, bright and beautiful teenagers are dangerously unhappy, their mental health in tatters. Thank God we can’t see into the future when we conceive our kids, otherwise we might choose to have none.

But this isn’t about God. The likes of Crowter are speaking out on behalf of themselves, not the Church. I’m writing based on my experience of having a sibling with Down’s. The UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which is supportive of abortion in general, has even recommended that the UK update its law on abortion so that it no longer supports ‘legalising selective abortion on the grounds of foetal deficiency’.

Fox is offering MPs the chance to abolish a law which allows a whole category of people to be extinguished, even up to birth. In cases after 14 weeks, this means allowing the insertion of forceps through the cervix to remove the tiny baby.

The status quo is not a victory for choice but a tragedy for the diminishing Down’s community. MPs have a rare opportunity to fight for the survival of their fellow human beings. I only hope they will be brave enough to do it.