Posted on 03/11/2020 6:38:13 PM PDT by Morgana
COLUMBUS, Ohio — A federal court in Cincinnati will hear complex legal arguments for and against Ohio's Down syndrome abortion ban Wednesday, in a case viewed as pivotal in the national debate over the procedure.
Attorneys for the government contend in legal filings that the sidelined 2017 law does not infringe on a woman's constitutional rights — because it “does not prohibit any abortions at all.”
That was certainly not how the measure's proponents in the Ohio Legislature saw it, said one backer.
“I'm of the mind that it certainly does prevent abortions,” said state Rep. Candice Keller, a Republican abortion opponent.
The Ohio law prohibits physicians from performing an abortion if they're aware that a diagnosis of Down syndrome, or the possibility, is influencing the decision. Those who defy the ban would face a fourth-degree felony charge, be stripped of their medical license and be held liable for legal damages. The pregnant woman faces no criminal liability under the law.
This and similar proposals around the country have triggered emotional debate over women’s rights, parental love, and the trust between doctor and patient.
The state and federal government will argue Wednesday during a rare hearing before the entire U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati that, because of how it's structured, the law only impedes doctors, not pregnant women.
The Trump Justice Department took the state of Ohio's side in the case in January, writing: “Nothing in Ohio’s law creates a substantial obstacle to women obtaining an abortion."
Opponents, meanwhile, call the law an illegal “reason ban.” They say it undercuts the woman's independent decision-making by attempting to get into her mind, or prevent her from speaking freely with her doctor, as she makes an abortion decision.
(Excerpt) Read more at nbcnews.com ...
But a ban on aborting gay,lesbian or 'transgendered" babies....
This is ridiculous so the law says if the baby is normal you can kill it but if it has Downs you can’t. No way it survives a challenge and maybe by design.
This is ridiculous so the law says if the baby is normal you can kill it but if it has Downs you can’t. No way it survives a challenge and maybe by design.
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I’m pro-life but agree this law will not survive challenge.
This is irrational. You can’t ban abortion for mentally retarded children but allow it when it has any other defect ... or is just the sex the parents didn’t want.
India has tried to ban gender-selective abortion without success; doctors will reveal the gender of the baby without documenting it, and for those who don’t, the unwanted female baby is simply abandoned on the side of the road after birth.
Very creepy stuff, but not an unexpected outcome when so many women see childbearing as slavery.
OHIO PING!
Please let me know if you want on or off the Ohio Ping list.
Down syndrome abortion fight in Ohio takes legal twists. The law prohibits physicians from performing an abortion if they’re aware that a diagnosis of Down syndrome, or the possibility, is influencing the decision.
NBC NEWS ^ | March 11, 2020 | AP
Posted on 3/11/2020, 9:38:13 PM by Morgana
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