Pro-life advocates want to make it illegal for someone to have an abortion in Ohio in the event a woman wants to do so because she believes her child has Down syndrome.
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Ohio’s bill lacks the “solely” language but still indicates that the abortion must be sought “because of” 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?
“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.
That’s what Ohio Gov. John Kasich realized last week on the campaign trail after his rather tame comments on abortion caught the attention of pro-choice groups in his home state. They see the measure as a creeping attempt to undermine the legality of abortion, as decided by the 1973 US Supreme Court verdict in Roe v. Wade. And in the few that have passed them-North Dakota, where it’s illegal to abort based on fetal genetic anomalies (like Down Syndrome); Arizona, where doctor’s can’t peform abortions if the reaon is the “sex or race of the child, or the race of a parent of that child”-there’s no evidence they’re being enforced”. Similar laws have been considered in three other states. Kasich has brushed off questions about abortion calling it the “law of the land,” and has previously said he did not oppose abortions in cases such as rape or incest. The Executive Director of Ohio Right to Life, Stephanie Ranade Krider, said, “More and more, it seems that society is rejecting discrimination in favor of diversity, empathy, and understanding for the most vulnerable and marginalized members of our communities”. They also say that by focusing on the diagnosis of a fetal condition, it edges toward recognizing the fetus as a person, setting up a conflict between the mother’s interests and those of the fetus.
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But, as Perry noted in a January RH Reality Check op-ed, pro-information laws have also become politicized by anti-abortion groups. “Contraception is critical to helping women plan their pregnancies and reducing the infant mortality rate in the state of Ohio.”
