Planned Parenthood Asks Judge to Overturn Law Banning Abortions on Babies With Down Syndrome

State   |   Micaiah Bilger   |   Oct 26, 2016   |   6:09PM   |   Indianapolis, IN

Planned Parenthood asked a judge Tuesday to throw out an Indiana law that protects unborn babies from being aborted solely because of their sex, race or a genetic disorder like Down syndrome, The Indiana Lawyer reports.

Planned Parenthood of Indiana and Kentucky and the American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit challenging the law this spring. In July, Federal Judge Tanya Walton Pratt granted the pro-abortion groups’ request to temporarily block enforcement of the law.

The abortion group claims the law places an unconstitutional burden on women’s access to abortion, and now it wants Judge Pratt to throw out the law entirely, according to the report.

House Bill 1337, signed by Gov. Mike Pence in March, would ban abortion doctors from knowingly aborting an unborn baby solely because of a genetic abnormality such as Down syndrome, the unborn baby’s race or sex. The bill also has several other abortion-related measures, including a requirement that aborted or miscarried babies’ bodies be cremated or buried and another requirement that abortionists who have hospital admitting privileges renew them annually.

The burial/cremation requirement backs up a law passed in 2015 by Gov. Pence requiring that aborted babies’ bodies be disposed of in a humane way.

Indiana became the second state to pass such a law, following North Dakota in 2013.

State Sen. Liz Brown, who worked on the legislation, previously said many families face pressure to abort from doctors or other health care professionals when their babies are diagnosed with a disability in the womb. LifeNews has documented numerous cases of families saying the same thing.

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“What we hear from doctors is — it would really be better off if you were not born,” Brown said. “If you are born, we will love you, and we think you have equal rights and should be a member of society. In fact, we have the Americans with Disabilities Act and have to make accommodations. But we don’t want to make the accommodation before you’re born, and in fact, it would really be easier if you were not born.”

According to Indiana Right to Life, Judge Pratt was appointed by pro-abortion President Barack Obama. The group said Pratt has a history of siding with the abortion lobby; Pratt also blocked provisions of a 2011 Indiana law that denied taxpayer funds to abortion businesses and required that pregnant women be told about an unborn child’s ability to feel pain.

Mike Fichter, President and CEO of Indiana Right to Life, previously said he was not surprised when Pratt stayed the enforcement of the law in July.

“Abortion businesses like Planned Parenthood turn to activist judges anytime they believe their lucrative businesses are threatened,” Fichter said. “It is no surprise that a judge appointed by Obama with a history of ruling against pro-life measures would block the Dignity for the Unborn law.”

Local news reports did not indicate when the judge planned to rule on Planned Parenthood’s new request.

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