Posted on 11/21/2019 6:15:33 PM PST by Morgana
Pennsylvania Democrat Gov. Tom Wolf on Wednesday vetoed a bill to protect unborn babies with Down syndrome from discrimination.
The Down Syndrome Protection Act (House Bill 321) passed the state Senate on Wednesday in a 27-22 vote. The bill would prohibit an abortion solely based on a diagnosis of Down syndrome. It would add to a state law that also prohibits discriminatory sex-selection abortions. The Pennsylvania House previously passed the measure by an overwhelming, bipartisan margin.
But Wolf today vetoed the legislation to protect babies with Down syndrome.
In a statement, the governor called the legislation a “restriction on women and medical professionals and interferes with women’s health care and the crucial decision-making between patients and their physicians.” He said enforcement of the bill would “upend the doctor-patient relationship and impede on patient confidentiality.”
“Gov. Wolf’s veto will prevent all children with Down’s Syndrome from going on to live happy and fulfilled lives,” said Eric Failing, executive director of the Pennsylvania Catholic Conference. “Had Gov. Wolf signed this legislation, he would’ve ensured the protection of humanity’s most vulnerable lives. We thank all legislators who came together in a bi-partisan fashion to support this common-sense legislation, and PCC looks forward to working with them again to protect the sanctity of life.”
Ahead of his veto, Wolf slammed the bill in a statement to the AP, claiming it “seeks to limit health care choices for women and politicize difficult moments for vulnerable families.”
“This bill masks yet another attempt to ban abortions and put politicians between a woman and her doctor,” Wolf’s office said.
Wolf has close ties to the abortion industry. He once volunteered as an escort at a Planned Parenthood abortion facility. In 2018, his re-election campaign received a record $1.5 million in support from Planned Parenthood. He also appointed several people from the abortion chain to his administration, including his chief of staff.
It is not clear if there are enough votes in the state legislature to override Wolf’s veto.
“We have a responsibility to protect those who don’t have a voice,” said state Rep. Kate Klunk, R-York County, a sponsor of the bill, in a statement earlier this year. “We have a responsibility to stand up against eugenics. And, we have a responsibility to stand up to say that a baby with Down syndrome has a right to life and should not be discriminated against in the womb.”
Other sponsors include Sen. Scott Martin, R-Lancaster and House Speaker Mike Turzai, R-Allegheny County. A number of disability rights advocates also support the bill, including Karen Gaffney, a long-distance swimmer with Down syndrome and disability rights advocate, Kurt and Chloe Kondrich, and Sara Hart Weir, the former president of the National Down Syndrome Society.
Supporters urged lawmakers to protect unborn babies from discrimination, noting how abortion has become a modern means of eugenics.
“This is eugenics, this is not health care,” Martin said during the Senate debate. “These are parents who actually want to have children, who are presented as if this child will actually be a burden, who cannot live a productive life. … These children have the ability to live long, productive lives, even past the age of 60.”
Research shows that the vast majority of children who receive a Down syndrome diagnosis in the womb lose their lives to abortion. Many parents report being pressured by doctors to have an abortion after receiving a prenatal diagnosis of Down syndrome. The legislation would protect families from this discrimination.
“This is a victory for Pennsylvania women, their families, and people with disabilities,” said Maria V. Gallagher, legislative director for the Pennsylvania Pro-Life Federation, an affiliate of National Right to Life. “People with Down syndrome contribute greatly to our families, schools, workplaces, and communities, and their lives should be protected.”
Currently in Pennsylvania, a woman can have abortion for any reason up to 24 weeks of pregnancy, except for the purpose of sex-selection. The Down Syndrome Protection Act would expand that exception to include unborn babies with Down syndrome.
“Countries like Iceland and Denmark are aborting nearly every child diagnosed with Down syndrome in the womb,” said Dan Bartkowiak, director of communications for the Pennsylvania Family Institute. “Here in America, we’re trending towards Iceland with the majority of babies diagnosed with Down syndrome being aborted. Pennsylvania is better than this. Let’s stop medical professionals from coercing women to abort their child solely because of Down syndrome, and let’s truly celebrate people with Down syndrome for the wonderful contributions they make to our state.”
In 2017, a CBS News report shocked the nation with its exposure of the discriminatory abortion trend. According to the report, nearly 100 percent of unborn babies who test positive for Down syndrome are aborted in Iceland. The rate in France was 77 percent in 2015, 90 percent in the United Kingdom and 67 percent in the United States between 1995 and 2011, according to CBS.
Some put the rate as high as 90 percent in the United States, but it is difficult to determine the exact number because the U.S. government does not keep detailed statistics about abortion.
ACTION: Contact Gov. Tom Wolf here to complain about him vetoing bill.
Don’t re-elect this guy!
Depraved scumbag
This is what the democrat party stands for.
Freedom to kill whoever you want whenever the person can’t defend themselves.
Evidently they have a lot of people turning the other cheek on this issue as long as they get their payoff or free welfare benefits.
The party of biological superiority.
The Master Party. The Master Race.
When they get the power to confiscate our guns they will inter those that don’t agree with them to concentration camps.
Why are Down syndrome people considered so bad? The are just as alive and human as anyone else. They have feelings. They have love.
I guess their disability is worthy of a death sentence so the person who decides to destroy the part of “my body, my choice” can live the good life.
See the new movie “Peanut Butter Falcon”. Down Syndrome Actor.
The democrat party is truly the party of Satan.
This Pennsylvania Governor shows “Democrats First, Humanity Not”
May he live with himself and always be remembered for his decision to veto.
Don’t forget the protein test that gives so many false signals
We refuse it
Alpha Feta Protein
My wife was like who cares we’re not aborting anyhow
I wonder if this might have been signed if they would’ve included in the bill to ban abortions for any babies testing positive for homosexuality. I know there is no test for that but the optics of him vetoing a bill to ban abortions when a baby tests positive (has the gay gene - as they keep telling us it is genetic (I know it is BS but still)). Would love to make the dirtbags sweat.
(Had to wait until I was home to post this as didn’t want to write that from my work pc, never know what triggers could be set off.)
Wolfe is in his second term and cannot run again due to two term limit in Pa. He doesn’t care at this point, the voters can’t touch him. The sad thing is that the Demoncrat Party will run someone even worse than Wolfe and the people in Philly, Pittsburgh and their suburbs will vote them in...
It all depends on who the Republicans put up. I don’t believe Kenney’s act would play well outside Philadelphia.
Woooaaaa!
MURDER should be our choice and the government should stay out of it?
Wow
hell is going to be Just place for these murderering politicians.
True but Philly and Pittsburgh pick the Gov.
It’s time.
Typical demonKKKrat eugenicist/murderer.
TWJNK.
I don’t like these bills. They are just a ploy and they imply that abortion of other babies is OK.
Good politicians must keep passing such Bill’s. The more the evil tamps it down the more they are exposed. +1 for Good
That was beautiful. Thank you.
It is not “eugenics” because it is not a genetic disorder. I wish people would stop saying things like this.
Also, some of them can’t live productive lives.
Call it what it is, and let the many people who want to adopt them adopt them with full knowledge of the difficulties involved, which many will see as a blessing.
My thoughts this AM on the way to church. Old Marge Sanger called the negroes parasites. Hitlers and the SS called Jews parasites. Planned Parenthood calls babies parasites. Climate Changers also call humans parasites. We’re in deep excrement if these people start getting really, really powerful....few short years?
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