Ohio Bill Would Ban Abortion Due to Down Syndrome Diagnosis

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. “So instead, we’ve got bills like HB 131 in Ohio”. She refused, and the diagnosis turned out to be wrong.

“I think (abortion) is an important issue, but I think there’s many other issues that are really critical”.

“They’re trying to encroach on the right to abortion, step by step, and turn a woman’s health care decision into an issue of discrimination against the fetus,” Sara Ainsworth of the National Advocates for Pregnant Women told the New York Times.

“If abortion on demand is legal, and you can have an abortion just because you want to, what does it mean to say you can’t abort for Down syndrome?”

In order to prosecute physicians, both North Dakota’s law and Ohio’s bill would require the state to definitively establish the intent of a woman seeking an abortion and the physician’s knowledge of that intent-a tall burden of proof for such a complex decision. The measure moreover has implications for the 2016 presidential race, as Ohio Gov. John Kasich seeks the Republican nomination and tries to walk a fine line between burnishing his pro-life credentials and positioning himself as a moderate member of the GOP field. 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. Anti-abortion activists claim that the bans protect the unborn but, when asked how they should be enforced, neither Ohio Right to Life (ORTL) nor North Dakota Right to Life (NDRTL) nor the National Right to Life Committee (NRLC) immediately responded to request for comment from The Daily Beast.

Planned Parenthood has also faced criticism and initiatives to cut its state funding, following the release of several videos accusing the organization of trafficking in body parts of aborted fetuses, sometimes without the mothers’ consent.

But, as Perry noted in a January RH Reality Check op-ed, pro-information laws have also become politicized by anti-abortion groups. Ohio lawmakers want that trend to come to a halt. Early childhood. Infant mortality.