Sen. Theis introduced S.B. 760 on Dec. 1, 2021 and S.B. 774 on Dec. 7, 2021. Both bills were referred to the Senate Health Policy Committee. On April 29, 2021, H.B. 4737 and H.B. 4738 were introduced and referred to the House Health Policy Committee.

Description

H.B. 4737 and 4738 would ban the practice of targeted or eugenic abortions and make it a felony if a doctor performs an abortion on a woman because of a fetal disability, the sex of the unborn baby, or the race of the child. S.B. 760 and S.B. 774 are identical to H.B. 4737 and 4738.

Background

Disabled unborn babies are often targeted in the womb in “search and destroy” abortions. It is estimated that approximately 70% of babies prenatally diagnosed with Down Syndrome are aborted as are those with Cerebral Palsy. In some countries, nearly 100% of Downs cases are identified in utero and aborted. Women are often pressured by doctors, family members, and others to abort babies with any number of disabilities including non-life-threatening conditions such as cleft palate.

In many countries, baby girls are singled out for abortion as boys are culturally more desirable and/or countries limit the number of children a woman can have thereby creating pressure to abort girl babies. The ratio of boys to girls in several countries has become very disproportionately skewed, and estimates put the number of girls killed in abortion in the tens of millions. Unfortunately, sex-selection abortions happen in the U.S. as well. Race selection abortions are not as common, but they do happen particularly with women whose families are bigoted.

History

With the development of non-invasive prenatal testing, physicians can determine genetic abnormalities, sex, and race of an unborn child with a simple blood draw from the mother as early as 10 weeks gestation. Sadly, the discovery of a disability, the “wrong” sex, or the “wrong” race has led to the eugenic abortion of millions of unborn children worldwide.

When Indiana passed a “selective” abortion ban in 2016, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals struck the law as unconstitutional, and the Supreme Court refused to hear the case. However, Justice Thomas wrote a detailed opinion that called for the court to address these eugenic abortions. On April 12, 2021, the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals allowed Ohio’s ban on targeted abortions of children with Down syndrome to be enforced while court challenges continue. Michigan is also under the jurisdiction of the Sixth Circuit. If the Sixth Circuit ultimately upholds the Ohio law, it could open the door for the Supreme Court to take up the case.