Court Rules in Favor of Protecting Unborn Children with Down Syndrome 

CINCINNATI—Today the U. S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that it is in the legitimate interest of the state to ban Down Syndrome abortions because it protects members of the Down Syndrome community from selective abortions and the stigma associated with their condition, it protects pregnant women and their families from doctors who encourage abortion of Down Syndrome fetuses, and it protects the consciences of medical professionals who refuse to perform Down-Syndrome-selective abortions.

The opinion states, "By involving the doctor in her personal decision to abort her pregnancy because the forthcoming child would be born with Down syndrome, the woman places the doctor in a position of conflicted medical, legal, and ethical duties. Ordinarily, under basic medical ethics, doctors are expected to respond to a diagnosis of Down syndrome with care and healing. In this situation, however, those doctors who would do so are instead being asked to act directly against the physical life of the fetus based solely on the fact that the forthcoming child would have Down syndrome."

The law banning Down Syndrome abortions was introduced as House Bill 214, sponsored by Representatives Sarah LaTourette and Derek Merrin, and signed into law in 2018. The lawsuit claiming HB 214 to be unconstitutional was filed by one doctor and four Ohio abortion clinics.

“CCV would like to thank Attorney General Dave Yost and Solicitor General Ben Flowers for upholding this Ohio law and protecting our most vulnerable population,” said Aaron Baer, president of Center for Christian Virtue (CCV). “Every human life has dignity. The Sixth Circuit is right to recognize the eugenic nature of abortion on the basis of Down Syndrome. No one has the right to determine whether anyone else’s life is worth living. Ohio will continue to fight to protect and defend all life.”

Read the court’s full opinion here.

For more information, contact CCV at 513-733-5775 or info@ccv.org.

As Ohio’s largest Christian public policy organization, Center for Christian Virtue seeks the good of our neighbors by advocating for public policy that reflects the truth of the Gospel. 

###