John Becker, who is co-sponsoring the proposed ban, told CNN’s “New Day” on Monday that even parents who are unequipped to raise a special needs child have options other than abortion, such as adoption. “The pro-life movement really means pro-life for all innocent human life.” “Discriminating against a person, not allowing them their God-given right to life, simply because they might have Down syndrome”, she added. As it stands, an article in Prenatal Diagnosis says that fetuses diagnosed with Down syndrome are aborted between 60% and 90% of the time. Researchers did note that more mothers opted for giving birth following a Down syndrome diagnosis.
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Indeed, women with low-paying jobs, unstable home lives, or no education may want to undergo an abortion anyway – whether or not the child has Down syndrome.
But how would a state like Ohio determine whether or not any individual woman’s choice was related to such a diagnosis, let alone prove that it was her “sole” motivation?
Ohio’s bill lacks the “solely” language but still indicates that the abortion must be sought “because of” Down syndrome.
“As soon as babies are born, they’re protected by the Americans With Disabilities Act, but we need this bill so that they can be born, and not culled,” Mullen said, according to the New York Times. It also affects the definition of the right to choose an abortion as a private matter between the patient and her doctor. Such a ban on abortion would likely be found to be in violation of the Supreme Court decision Roe v. Wade, which protects a woman’s right to have an abortion before fetal viability.
John Kasich has not yet taken a position on this measure, but he has signed other anti-abortion bills into law during his tenure in office. “I can’t imagine how any of these laws would be enforceable.”
“Obviously it’s the law of the land now”, Kasich responded, “and we live with the law of the land”.
North Dakota passed a law in 2013 making it illegal to perform abortions due to fetal genetic anomalies such as Down syndrome.
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A Kasich campaign spokesman did not say Monday whether the governor would support the ban, citing the long prospects the measure faces in the Ohio Capitol. The videos were filmed by Center for Medical Progress, an anti-abortion group.
