By Dave Andrusko
The movement to ban abortions performed solely because of an unborn baby’s race, sex, or genetic abnormality took another step forward last week when the Mississippi House of Representatives passed House Bill 1295.
The Christian Post’s Michael Gryboski reports that the vote on the Life Equality Act of 2020 was 79-33, with six abstentions, three voting present, and one vacancy.
“[T]he legislation would require abortionists to notate in a patient’s medical records that the abortion was not being committed because of a baby’s suspected genetic abnormalities, race, or sex,” according to Claire Chretien. “Such abortions would only be allowed if there was a ‘medical emergency.’”
In part, HB 1295 reads, “Abortions predicated on the presence or presumed presence of genetic abnormalities continue to occur despite the increasingly favorable post-natal outcomes for human beings perceived as handicapped or disabled. …Pharmaceutical treatments, gene therapies, and prosthetic advances have given formerly handicapped and disabled human beings much greater opportunities for survival and success than ever before. Importantly, surgical intervention now includes the availability of intrauterine surgery.”
Should such abortions be performed, the bill makes clear the woman would not be prosecuted. Under HB 1295, however, an abortionist “found in violation of the law could face as much as 10 years in prison and see their state medical license suspended or possibly revoked,” Gryboski explained.
“Pro-life advocates argue that babies who doctors say will be born with disabilities are disproportionally targeted for abortion, and point to data showing minority babies are targeted by the abortion industry,” Chretien explained. “Sex-and-disability-based abortions are also a problem abroad. China’s population control efforts – originally the One-Child Policy, now the Two-Child Policy – have led to the deaths of millions of female babies before birth. Countries like Iceland boast an almost 100 percent abortion rate of babies with Down syndrome.”