Down syndrome abortions banned

Ohio is prohibiting doctors from performing abortions based on a diagnosis of Down syndrome.

COLUMBUS » Ohio is prohibiting doctors from performing abortions based on a diagnosis of Down syndrome, joining other states with similarly strict legislation.

Republican Gov. John Kasich signed the legislation into law on Friday. Lawmakers had sent the bill to him earlier this month, in one of their last acts of the year.

The legislation, which cleared the GOP-led Legislature with some Republican opposition, makes it a crime for a doctor to terminate a pregnancy based on knowledge of Down syndrome, a genetic abnormality that causes developmental delays and medical conditions such as heart defects and respiratory and hearing problems.

It makes performing an abortion in such cases a fourth-degree felony and requires the state medical board to revoke the physician’s license if convicted. Pregnant women involved in such procedures won’t be penalized.

Kasich’s action was a victory for the anti-abortion group Ohio Right to Life, which argued it will prevent discrimination based on misinformation.

“Now that the Down Syndrome Non-Discrimination Act is law, unborn babies prenatally diagnosed with Down syndrome are given a shot at life” the group’s president, Mike Gonidakis, said in a statement Friday.