Ohio passes law barring abortion over Down syndrome diagnosis

[marybourg]

CLEVELAND (Reuters) - Women in Ohio would be prohibited from receiving abortions because of a fetal Down syndrome diagnosis under a bill that passed the state senate on Wednesday and is heading to Republican Governor John Kasich’s desk.

Lawmakers voted 20-12 in favor of the law, which criminalizes abortion if the physician has knowledge that the procedure is being sought due to a diagnosis of Down syndrome, a genetic disorder caused when abnormal cell division results in an extra full or partial copy of chromosome 21.

Doctors would lose their medical licenses in the state and face a fourth-degree felony charge under the law if they were to perform an abortion with that knowledge. Mothers would not face criminal charges.


Disgraceful!

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-ohio-abortion/ohio-passes-law-barring-abortion-over-down-syndrome-diagnosis-idUSKBN1E736O?feedType=nl&feedName=healthNews&utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=US%20Health%20Report%202017-12-14&utm_term=US%20Health%20Report

[treestar]

1. Ok so they are willing to pay the medical costs

Or is that left to the parents? I sincerely hope Ohio has a full ACA and is not one of those states that cut Medicaid Expansion.

[ProudLib72]

2. I hope the ACLU decides to pursue litigation

This is obscene!

[COLGATE4]

3. Patently unconstitutional. Kasich and the rest of the

RW mouth breathers are polishing up their anti-abortion creds before 2018.

[Freethinker65]

4. So the state is providing the medical funds necessary to provide any additional care needed...

I think not

[Botany]

5. And rich and middle class women will just go to another state and the poor will be ...

..... s. o. l.. A right wing christian theocracy is still pushing full speed ahead.

[ecstatic]

6. I assume they're simultaneously passing a bill promising 100% financial support, including full

healthcare (including mental and behavioral therapy) for EVERY family member? This is amazing to me. Americans really need to wake up. We're running out of time here.

[BoneyardDem]

29. Not just the financial support...but the care

most downs syndrome birth occur in women over the age of 35. Who in the hell is going to take care of a child that can not be adequately cared for by a retired, AGED, poor, perhaps even in poor health themselves, parent? I remember my mother stating that she had a dear friend who had a downs syndrome child. Her friend would lament that she couldn't even die in peace fearing that no one would care for her child once she was gone from this earth.

[The_Casual_Observer]

7. Downs Syndrome people are many times colonized together in groups. It's all very tragic.

I don't know why anyone would want to get involved with a law like this, it's horrible. The supporters of this should be made to become the guardians of these many times lost souls.

[LisaL]

10. And the law makes no sense.

What makes Down syndrome any more special than any other disability?

[The_Casual_Observer]

14. Most likely this is the most often clinical reason cited for abortion. The whole thing is so

sad and it's being used by these monsters as a tool.

[LisaL]

15. Presumably only because it's the most common.

[gratuitous]

8. To the citizens of Ohio: You don't know what you're capable of

You're a bunch of whiny, sniveling, over-privileged children whose very presence on this planet makes decent people want to vomit. Some of you don't think you're capable of caring for a special needs child, but what do you know? Nothing, that's what! Some of you are whining and puling that you can't afford to take care of a special needs child, but the Ohio legislature is here to tell you, right now, that that's because you don't have a winner's attitude! Surely there are luxuries in your personal budget that can be trimmed or eliminated entirely so that you can devote every spare penny to caring for this beautiful child that God has bestowed upon you. You're concerned that this could suck the very marrow of life out of the enjoyment of the remainder of your days, but that's just selfishness talking. We know better and we're willing to pass a law that stops you from shirking your duties.

And the Republic is saved.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

9. How can they single out a single condition for "protection"

and not any of the others that are severe enough to cause parents to consider abortion? And there are a lot of them: Trisomy-13, spina bifida, anencephaly, Cornelia-DeLang syndrome, effects of Zika virus, etc. I don't think a law that prevents abortion where Down syndrome has been diagnosed and not where some of these other conditions, is constitutional. There's no rational basis for the distinction.

[LisaL]

11. And what is the logic behind being able to abort a normally developing fetus and not being able

to abort a fetus with Down syndrome?

[marybourg]

13. This point alone will sink the law. nt

[marybourg]

12. This is what their cult-like base was asking for;

this is what they gave them. I'm sure they know that it won't survive scrutiny, but their cynicism knows no limits.

[Maeve]

16. It is not about rational basis

It's about chipping away at Roe v Wade by any means possible. And it will probably be tossed as unconstitutional, but until then, women just have to tell their doctors "Because I don't want to carry this pregnancy to term, period" without further explanation.

[Ilsa]

20. They would be glad to add the other congenital conditions.

They are mostly too stupid to know what they are and how much care is required.

[mythology]

17. I'm conflicted about this

On the one hand, a woman's body her choice.

On the other hand, the idea of aborting a fetus because it will have a disability is abhorrent to me. I help coach a special needs gymnastics team, including kids who have far more significant disabilities. Getting to work with those kids is one of the most personally rewarding things I get to do because I'm helping people who have been told they can't that in fact they can.

I get how much work it is the deal with the stress and cost. I don't want to have kids of my own because I wouldn't deal with that well. But to have been ready for kids until a test result strikes me as wrong.

[LisaL]

18. That's why it's called pro-choice.

It's not your choice, it's the woman's choice. The woman who would have to raise the child should be the one deciding, not other people.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

22. That's what pro-choice means.

Some people might choose to terminate a pregnancy because of a disability; others might not. Some people might not have the ability, financial or otherwise, to care for a child with a severe disability. Families have been driven into bankruptcy, divorce, many other problems on account of caring for a disabled child. I know a family who chose termination because the child would not have lived for more than a few days after birth and another who went bankrupt because their child was so severely disabled and needed constant care. It's not an easy decision, but it's also not one that should be made by the government.

[Mariana]

34. But it's "abhorrent" to terminate such a pregnancy.

Apparently regardless of the circumstances or the reasons for doing so. Isn't wonderful to know that?

[dembotoz]

25. Wife worked in a sheltered workshop..son was prenatally tested left and right

No way was she gonna give birth to a future client.
Just things u never discussed...was not gonna happen

[Freddie]

37. Friend works with developmentally disabled adults

Lots of her co-workers are young women and pregnancy is common. Every one of them gets prenatal tests - they WILL not let this happen to them if they can humanly help it.

[dembotoz]

45. they see the realtiy and it sucks

[lunasun]

26. And yet to others it seems to be the right thing to do . Families should be allowed choice .

[FreeState]

19. This will hurt the poor

Ohio isn't that big of a state, why wouldn't a woman just jump over to another state if she had the funds and resources? This will punish the poor more than anyone else, in many regards.

[SFnomad]

39. So Democrats should get a vote on another section added to the law ....

Charge the woman with a felony if she leaves the state to get around the law and gets an abortion. That would even the playing field between the rich and the poor. I'm sure the Republicans would get the vapors over such an addition too.

On Edit: And no, I'm not really for something like this. It would just be done to show how the Republicans are constantly trying to punish the poor.

[CTyankee]

21. We have a much smaller population of people with Down's Syndrome now because

it can be diagnosed so much earlier and so many people opt for an abortion. I worked with people who have developmental disabilities and very few had Down's. I worked with the parents of grown children with all forms of dd and the ones who were parents of those with Down's were all Roman Catholics, very devout and often angry about their own choice not to abort. I thought it was sad for them, altho I know they loved their grown children very much.

[The_Casual_Observer]

24. I've seen this first hand with the Catholics. They are treated like heroes at first. Then later on

it's all sadness and group homes. It's horrible.

[CTyankee]

28. Yes, I really felt sad for them. And yet, for many they thought their child with Down's

was a gift. I was moved and I was a bit ashamed of feeling so "sorry" for them when they felt they had been given a special gift from God. While I would never do what they did, I did understand, in my personal relationship with them, what they did out of love.

[ecstatic]

31. Curious, did they actually admit that they were angry

about their choice not to abort?

[CTyankee]

44. no. It came out in sudden expressions of utter disdain for those who abort.

The anger was pretty strong. When I thought about it, I figured their pregnancy with a baby that had Down's came before Roe v. Wade and abortion, while available, might have been something they couldn't contemplate to begin with.

[smirkymonkey]

23. So what happens when those fetuses are born to women or families who have absolutely no

means of taking care of a special needs child. No jobs, insurance, etc. Will the state provide for them? Will there be special institutions set up that will provide for these children for life - even into adulthood? They really haven't thought this through. Not only is it cruel, it's stupid and irrational.

[lunasun]

27. They don't care. Not thier problem, they just care about making the rules.

[ecstatic]

32. AND they want to get rid of pre-existing condition protections.

They are nuts!

[Hekate]

30. Just another wedge to hammer into rights of women. There's a woman in my neighborhood ...

...who is elderly, looks frail, walks with her little Downs girl every day. If I were that mother, I'd be worried every day about what would become of my child when I passed on.

How dare anyone else decide?

[jmowreader]

33. And a bus ticket to Chicago or Pittsburgh costs how much?

I think we can put this down under "unenforceable laws." If Mrs. A gets a diagnosis of fetal Down's from Doctor B then goes to Doctor C and tells him, "I want an abortion because I don't want a Down's child," Doctor C loses his license and goes to the Big House for five years. But if she goes to Doctor D and tells her, "my husband took a pay cut at work and we can't afford to continue this pregnancy," nothing happens to her.

[uppityperson]

35. Pennsylvania has a mandatory counseling and 24-hour waiting period.

Bus ticket Columbus to Chicago may be not unduly expensive, but it takes 5 1/2 hours to drive, each way. This can put it into unworkable category for many.

[jmowreader]

40. This makes an abortion a three or four day proposition

Hopefully people figure out workarounds for this atrocity until the courts can overturn it.

[uppityperson]

36. Except for chipping away at Roe v Wade and women's autonomy, this makes no sense.

[jmowreader]

41. You figured it out quick

This law was written PRECISELY to get Roe overturned.

[pansypoo53219]

38. with no funding for md needs or therapy. fuck fetus humpers.

[nadine_mn]

42. Iceland has almost no babies born with Down's Syndrome

Because almost all of the women who are tested and told their fetus would be born with it chose to terminate, in Denmark 98% women who are told choose to terminate.

The US...66% of women when told choose.

There are degrees of how severe Down's Syndrome can be, not every child born with it is going to be able to live independent. I cannot imagine knowingly giving birth to a child who may need continuous care well into adulthood ... and not being able to provide it. Either for financial reasons or just due to my own health and age. I would not want to risk my future child's life on how good the social safety net may be.

One of the many reason I choose to be child free.

But this is about chipping away Roe...and holding up pictures of wonderful humans who were born with Down's Syndrome and saying "they want to murder these children". It is vile and disgusting.

[Nonhlanhla]

43. Down Syndrome occurs on a spectrum

Last edited Fri Dec 15, 2017, 01:24 PM - Edit history (1)

Both the intellectual disability and the associated medical issues vary greatly. IQ levels can range from about 20 to about 80, with 50 the average, which indicates very different levels of functioning. Individuals with T21 (trisomy 21) also often have several health conditions that can vary in severity, including heart issues, compromised immune systems, and early onset Alzheimers. With early intervention intellectual outcomes have improved significantly in recent years, and medical progress has raised life expectation from 25 in the 1980s to 55-60 now, so there is a lot of hope for people with T21. But for that hope to truly be realized,society needs to provide far more help to families than they currently get. Society also needs to realize that many of the terminations for a T21 fetal diagnosis occur after serious physical conditions, such as cystic hygromas, have been detected. Not every fetus with T21 is the same, just as not every living person with T21 is the same - and even where there are no prenatally detectable health issues, the outcome is very uncertain, since the condition is such a spectrum. This legislation is obviously not about caring for children with T21, and it seems based largely on a romanticized perspective on the condition that does not keep in mind the complexities of either the diagnosis or families' situations. If people really cared about people with T21 and their families, they should rather legislate more money for early intervention, respite care, quality group homes, etc. But of course Republicans do not care about anything other than shaming women who are facing hard choices.