Senate OKs bill to prohibit genetic disorder abortions

Measure passes on eve of Down Syndrome Day

On the eve of World Down Syndrome Day, the Senate on Wednesday approved a bill prohibiting abortions from being done solely because the unborn child was diagnosed with the genetic disorder.

Without question or testimony, the Senate voted 29-2 to approve Senate Bill 2 — sponsored by Sen. Trent Garner, R-El Dorado — which would require a doctor to ask a woman seeking an abortion if she’s aware of any test results, prenatal diagnosis or any other reason the unborn child may have Down syndrome, a genetic disorder causing developmental challenges and abnormal physical features.

Exceptions to the bill are if an abortion is necessary to preserve the life of the unborn child or pregnant woman, to remove a dead unborn child after a miscarriage or to remove an ectopic pregnancy.

If the woman answers yes to the questions, the doctor must request the medical records relating directly to her entire pregnancy history.

A doctor who attempts or goes ahead with the abortion would have his medical license revoked and would be guilty of a Class D felony, which is punishable by up to six years in prison and/or a fine of up to $10,000.

A similar Ohio law was blocked by a federal judge earlier this year; that ruling is on appeal.

“I brought this bill because I wanted to make sure that those who have this diagnosis, those who could live this full and fulfilling life, those we see who for every single day bring joy not only to their families, but to members of their community and this state, have a chance to live,” Garner said.

Before Garner presented SB2, the Senate approved Senate Concurrent Resolution 5 by Sen. Breanne Davis, R-Russellville, to designate today as “World Down Syndrome Day” in Arkansas.

Davis stood before the group holding her 7-monthold daughter, who was born with Down syndrome.

“While receiving a prenatal Down syndrome diagnosis for my daughter, while it was one of the scariest things in my life, what Everly has shown our family over the last seven months is …,” Davis stopped as she choked back tears, “… that while she has Down syndrome, there is absolutely nothing down about it.”

Down syndrome is typically diagnosed by blood tests and ultrasound during the first or second trimester of pregnancy. It is caused when an individual has a full or partial extra copy of chromosome 21, according to the National Down Syndrome Society website.

“There is an epidemic across the world for those with Down syndrome,” Garner said. “Facts don’t lie about this menace. In the United States from 1955 to 2011, 67 percent of those with Down syndrome never saw their first birthday.”

Garner pointed to Iceland as the “worst place in the world to be made with Down syndrome.”

“Every single child with Down syndrome, nearly every single one of them, is aborted,” Garner said.

The Icelandic government has disputed those reports. With a population of 338,000, Iceland has two to three babies born with Down syndrome each year, according to the Icelandic government.

About 4,000 babies were born in Iceland in 2017. By comparison, the U.S. — with a population of about 325 million — has about 4 million live births a year. Of that number, 6,000 babies are born with Down syndrome each year in the United States, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The World Health Organization estimates that the rate of babies born with Down syndrome is between one in 1,000 and one in 1,100 live births worldwide.

Rita Sklar, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Arkansas, in an interview afterward, took exception with the mandate of SB2.

“The government does not need to be in the business of making these difficult, personal, private medical decisions for women and their families,” she said.

Jerry Cox, of the faithbased Family Council, said SB2 was strong legislation.

“This is a very good bill that extends legal protection to some of the most vulnerable unborn children, those with Down syndrome,” Cox said. “We are very pleased that Sen. Garner chose to introduce this bill and look forward to the day it becomes law.”