The Arkansas Senate approved legislation Wednesday that would ban abortions that target babies with Down syndrome,...
The Arkansas Senate approved legislation Wednesday that would ban abortions that target babies with Down syndrome, just ahead of World Down Syndrome Day on Thursday.
What are the details?
Lawmakers passed the bill in a 29-2 vote, without question or testimony, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported. The legislation was sponsored by Sen. Trent Garner (R) and would "require a doctor to ask a woman seeking an abortion if she is aware of any test results, prenatal diagnosis or any other reason that the unborn child may have Down syndrome," the paper wrote.Pregnancies resulting from rape or incest are exempt under the proposal, as are instances where an abortion is necessary to save the life of the mother.
If the bill becomes law, any physician who violates it could be charged with a Class D felony, face civil penalties, and lose his medical license. Any woman who receives or pursues a termination of pregnancy due to the fetus having Down syndrome would not be held liable, but instead would be afforded the same rights as a crime victim.
Sen. Garner told the Democrat-Gazette he crafted the legislation so that those diagnosed with the condition in his state "have a chance to live."
"There is an epidemic across the world for those with Down syndrome," Garner said. "Facts don't lie about the menace. In the United States from 1955 to 2011, 67 percent of those with Down syndrome never saw their first birthday."
The Republican said that Iceland is the "worst place in the world to be made with Down syndrome."
"Every single child with Down syndrome, nearly every single one of them [in that country], is aborted," he noted.
Arkansas is very accepting of those of us with mental deficiencies..they elected a full-blown retard to the US Senate..Tom Cotton .
ReplyDeleteBabies with Downs are often afflicted with severe heart defects as well. It's not a kindness to require that they be born. A woman that knows her unborn child is going to be severely handicapped should have the option of terminating her pregnancy. There are still plenty of people that will let the child be born and spend the rest of their lives caring for them and the rest of us will be required to provide their care if they outlive their parents. After exhausting all of their money, parents have to rely on state sponsored welfare so it stops being a strictly private affair. It's sad, but there is no such thing as "fair".
ReplyDeleteOf all of the reasons there are for an abortion, not bringing into the world a baby with severe defects is probably the best. I highly doubt that "nearly every single baby with downs is aborted." People with certain religious beliefs aren't going to abort a fetus for any reason. I expect that most of the downs babies that are born are to parents that are very religious.