Tennessee Court of Appeals upholds law banning abortions for Down Syndrome

On Friday, the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals handed down a ruling allowing a portion of Tennessee’s 2020 pro-life legislation, signed into law by Governor Bill Lee, to take effect. The Court ruled on parts of the legislation that are collectively referred to as the “reason bans” because they prohibit abortions for certain reasons. Those reasons include aborting due to a prenatal diagnosis of Down Syndrome, or because the preborn child is not the gender or race that the mother or both parents wanted. The abortion providers’ lawsuit requested an injunction preventing the enforcement of the reason bans while the case was being litigated. Friday’s 2-1 ruling against the abortion providers means that the reason bans will take effect while litigation continues.

Abortion providers, along with Planned Parenthood and the ACLU, sued the state, alleging that the law was too vague. Center for Reproductive Rights’ president and CEO Nancy Northup insisted that “These bans are just another way anti-abortion politicians are attempting to limit the constitutional right to abortion care and to create stigma. Decisions about whether and when to continue or to end a pregnancy are best made by the individual and their family.”

Separately, an injunction remains in place against another portion of the legislation banning abortions performed after six weeks.

After the court’s decision, the abortion providers immediately applied for a temporary restraining order, claiming, “Plaintiffs urgently need relief from this Court to ensure that their patients are not forced to continue their pregnancies against their will.” This sentiment pits women against their children, inappropriately using language of “force” that runs contrary to the powerful, biological bond that naturally exists between women and their children, both born and preborn.

Tennessee’s Attorney General’s Office, on the other hand, celebrated Friday’s ruling, noting in an emailed statement, “We appreciate the Sixth Circuit lifting the lower court’s injunction. We look forward to defending the statute in a more normal process. We don’t think the statute is unconstitutional and the extraordinary relief of an injunction was not warranted.” The statement continued, “Every life is precious and every child has inherent human dignity. Our law prohibits abortion based on the race, gender or diagnosis of Down syndrome of the child and the court’s decision will save lives. Protecting our most vulnerable Tennesseans is worth the fight.”

Live Action News recently reported on an article in The Atlantic raising awareness about the eugenic practice of aborting children because of a Down Syndrome diagnosis, both in the United States and abroad. The Atlantic piece mentioned the widespread ableist mentality that views a person’s value or worth in terms of what they can physically contribute or do. The author queried, “Jobs and college are achievements worth celebrating — like any kid’s milestones, but I’ve wondered why we so often need to point to achievements for evidence that the lives of people with Down syndrome are meaningful.”

A society where abortion is acceptable is precisely the type that breeds and produces the ill tempered parents and marriages you are referring to...in general a culture of death produces a collective personality incapable of unconditional love.

This is the most basic of civil rights. Unlike the so-called Civil Rights legislation of the LBJ era which ran roughshod over freedom of association and brought the federal government into every simple real estate transaction, the right to life is deserving of the protection of the law. I’ve never met a Downs citizen that didn’t seem to be a much better person than the average Joe. The Nazi viewpoints of destroying these precious people should not be tolerated.

This is interesting!
Each of the viewpoints i’ve considered are in the first three posts. I’ll weigh in agreeing with the first. I believe that all abortions should be a matter for the family and the doctor. That being said, undergoing a medical procedure like this should not be a casual decision. This is killing someone after all. There should be at the very least a serious medical review of the decision. In the past I’ve also advocated that the child should be provided legal council. A terminated pregnancy should be stigmatized and counted by society as a loss to be mourned.

On the other hand, if abortions aren’t treated as a prophylactic procedure then hard hearted couples reacting in desperation will simply head back to the back alley coat hangar solutions. It’s disgusting and embarrassing the grisly industry that’s grown around the casually administered procedure. Not to mention the overcompensating political protections provided by the government of these filthy death trap ‘clinics’. Not far removed from the back alley i’d say.

The Arguments become circular.

To think that abortion has no consequence is a great error.

A possible future is not just changed but eliminated when a child is aborted.

Ah, but who cares? Nothing must impede a woman’s God given right to kill what God has given.

Wouldn’t the World be better off without the defectives and undesirables, the untermenchen? Ja!

Iceland. We must become like Iceland, where no Downs babies are born, where they’re all killed in the womb and parted out on the cosmetic and food additive market.

What a better World it would be, Downs free.

The extermination of our Downs population is one of the great sins of Mankind.

King Herod lives and still rules. All the Innocents must die to keep that a happening thing.

Hail Caesar.

“...Wouldn’t the World be better off without the defectives and undesirables, the untermenchen? Ja!

Iceland. We must become like Iceland, where no Downs babies are born, where they’re all killed in the womb and parted out on the cosmetic and food additive market...”

You get to the essence of the issue. I’m afraid for all of its natural beauty, Iceland has become cold in a way unrelated to the weather. The West needs to see, feel, and understand the value of human life.

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