Members of Congress will be reintroducing a ban on abortion based on a prenatal diagnosis of Down syndrome on Friday, the same day as the virtual March for Life.
The legislation being introduced by Rep. Ron Estes, R-Kan., and Sen. Jim Inhofe, R-Okla., would permit relatives of aborted children killed based on a Down syndrome diagnosis to bring civil action against the abortion performers. The bill specifies that the mother of the child cannot be prosecuted.
Children with Down syndrome are being targeted and exterminated at alarming rates. In the United States, 67 percent of babies with a Down syndrome diagnosis are aborted. In European countries, it’s worse. A disturbing 98 percent of babies with this diagnosis are aborted in Denmark and nearly 100 percent in Iceland.
In a statement to The Federalist, Estes said, “It’s tragic that in the United States babies are being targeted simply because they have one more chromosome. This legislation is about ensuring that the rights of individuals with disabilities are protected.”
If passed, the upcoming bill, endorsed by Susan B. Anthony List, National Right to Life, and National Pro-Life Alliance, will help curtail the genocidal annihilation of some of the least powerful people among us.
Eight states have enacted similar legislation to prohibit discriminatory abortion on the basis of Down syndrome. Most recently, Gov. Kristi Noem introduced a bill in South Dakota.
Wednesday, senators introduced a different abortion bill for the fifth time that would ban abortions after 20 weeks, when children can feel physical pain. The bill provides exceptions if the abortion is necessary to save the mother’s life or if the child was conceived as a result of rape or incest.
“There are only seven countries that allow wholesale abortions at the 20-week period, including China and North Korea. The United States should not be in that club,” stated Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., the sponsor of the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act.
“I don’t believe abortion, five months into pregnancy, makes us a better nation,” Graham said Wednesday. “America is at her best when she’s standing up for the least among us, and the sooner we pass this legislation into law, the better.”
The bill, co-sponsored by 43 senators, would not prosecute women who receive illegal abortions under the law, but violating abortion providers could be subject to a civil court case.
Abortion takes the lives of 600,000 unborn babies every year in the United States. Of those 600,000 children, poor people, racial minorities, and those with special needs, including Down syndrome, represent a disproportionate number of the victims. Human rights legislation like the one being introduced Friday will help fight the greatest social justice dilemma of our time and bring about authentic tolerance in America.