Aggregated News
By the time you read this, Ohio may be the second state to outlaw abortion of a fetus with a prenatal diagnosis of Down syndrome. The bill is expected to pass. Anti-choice Republicans dominate the legislature. Gov. John Kasich — the "moderate" GOP presidential hopeful — has signed 16 abortion restrictions since taking office in 2011. Thanks to these laws, half the state's abortion clinics have closed.
Other states have tried and failed to pass similar bans. Indiana introduced one for the second time this session that would make it a felony to perform an abortion on the basis of fetal sex or a genetic diagnosis of "Down syndrome or any other disability." So far, North Dakota has the only disability-related abortion restriction on the books; eight states ban sex-selective abortions. None of these laws has been enforced.
In fact, they are probably unenforceable. How would prosecutors know what was in a woman's head when she went to the clinic? Would every abortion patient be compelled to undergo prenatal genetic screening? (That's not so far-fetched, considering that 10...