France upholds 'right not to be born'

The parents said they would have had an abortion

France's highest court of appeal has ruled that disabled children are entitled to compensation if their mothers were not given the chance of an abortion.

The ruling follows a case brought by three families with physically deformed children, who argued that if doctors had detected the foetuses' disabilities they would have had the pregnancies terminated.

There is a real risk of this starting a process that ends with the search for the perfect child

Medical lawyer

Doctors and campaigners for the disabled have reacted furiously, describing the decision by the Cour de Cassation as an incitement to eugenics.

The ruling was a surprise because it upheld a widely condemned landmark decision - known as the Perruche case - which awarded a mentally retarded boy damages last year because he had not been aborted.

The case was widely described as establishing in law a disabled child's "right not to be born."

Judges at the Cour de Cassation decided that the Perruche precedent remained "as long as a causal link can be established with an error committed by a doctor".

Furious reaction

The Collective To Stop Discrimination against the Disabled (CCH), which was set up after the Perruche case, responded angrily.

"This is a real act of phobia. Now parents are going to be attacked and seen as irresponsible because they gave birth to a handicapped child," it said.

Doctors say the fear of being sued for a mis-diagnosis would encourage them to recommend abortions at the smallest hint of a disability.

The court was ruling on a case brought by the families of three children aged between nine and 11. One has a malformation of the spine and the other two have only one arm.

"The ruling means that the handicapped have no place in our society," said Yves Richard, a lawyer representing the medical profession.

"There is a real risk of this starting a process that ends with the search for the perfect child."