A divided Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals on Tuesday gave the green light for an Ohio law that seeks to protect unborn children with Down syndrome from being subjected to selective abortions.
The full court of the 6th Circuit ruled in a 9-7 en banc decision (pdf) to reverse a lower court ruling that blocked H.B. 214, known as the “Down Syndrome Non-Discrimination Act,” from being enforced. The 2017 law prohibits a doctor from performing an abortion if he or she has knowledge that the mother’s reason for aborting the pregnancy is due to a prenatal Down syndrome diagnosis. Doctors who violate the law could be punished criminally and result in the revocation of their medical license.
