The Ohio Attorney General’s Office plans to appeal a ruling striking down a non-discrimination law that protects unborn babies with Down syndrome from abortion.
State Attorney General Mike DeWine announced the decision to appeal March 15, just a day after federal Judge Timothy Black blocked the law, according to The Christian Times.
“I strongly disagree with the district court’s ruling that there is a categorical right to abortion that prevents even any consideration of Ohio’s profound interests in combating discrimination against a class of human beings based upon disability. We will be appealing,” DeWine said, the Catholic News Agency reports.
Last week, Mike Gonidakis, president of Ohio Right to Life, praised DeWine for “fiercely” defending the non-discrimination law.
Here’s more from the Times:
Abortion rights group NARAL Pro-choice Ohio lamented that DeWine is wasting taxpayer money by defending a “blatantly unconstitutional” law. The nonpartisan Legislative Service Commission has reportedly found that challenging the legislation could cost the state several hundred thousand dollars to cover the legal expenses for the plaintiffs.
The lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the legislation was brought by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) in February on behalf of Planned Parenthood of Southwest Ohio, Cincinnati’s Dr. Roslyn Kade and several other abortion clinics. The defendants named in the suit include the Ohio Department of Health, state medical board and local prosecutors, including Hamilton County’s Joe Deters.
Last week, Black issued a preliminary injunction against the Ohio law, arguing federal law is “crystal clear” that states may not prohibit abortions before viability, WOSU Radio reports.
Black is a Barack Obama appointee and a former director and president of Planned Parenthood of Cincinnati, the radio station reported in 2014. At the time, Black recused himself from another lawsuit involving the abortion chain; however, he did not recuse himself from the current case, despite the strong indication of bias.
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According to the Daily Caller, Black volunteered as director of the Planned Parenthood Association of Cincinnati from 1986 to 1989 and president in 1988.
Last year, Ohio legislators passed a law to prohibit abortions performed specifically because an unborn baby has been diagnosed with Down syndrome. Planned Parenthood and the ACLU filed a lawsuit to block the law.
Unborn babies with Down syndrome are targeted for abortions at astronomical rates.
A recent CBS News report shocked the nation with its exposure of the discriminatory abortion trend. According to the report, nearly 100 percent of unborn babies who test positive for Down syndrome are aborted in Iceland. The rate in France was 77 percent in 2015, 90 percent in the United Kingdom and 67 percent in the United States between 1995 and 2011, according to CBS.
North Dakota and Indiana also protect unborn babies with Down syndrome from discriminatory abortions. Pennsylvania lawmakers recently introduced legislation to do the same.
