The North Carolina House passed a pro-life bill today to protect unborn babies with Down syndrome from discrimination and being killed in abortions.
The Human Life Non-Discrimination Act (state House Bill 453) would prohibit abortionists from knowingly doing an abortion that is sought because of the unborn baby’s race or the likelihood that he or she has Down syndrome. The bill passed the state House Health Committee on Tuesday and today the full North Carolina House of Representatives voted for it 67-42.
The measure now goes to the full Senate.
Dory MacMillan, a spokeswoman for Gov. Roy Cooper (D), did not say if the pro-abortion governor would veto the bill but six Democrats joined with the Republicans in voting in favor of the bill.
State Rep. Dean Arp, R-Union County, a lead sponsor of the bill, said North Carolina citizens want a society that values children.
“We do not want to be the kind of society that not only discriminates but disposes of children because of the way they are created,” Arp said. “North Carolina citizens do not want to be that kind of society either.”
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But Democrat lawmaker Rep. Verla Insko, of Orange County, opposed the legislation, claiming it would be “discriminatory against pregnant women,” according to the AP.
A leading pro-life advocate thanked the legislature for voting for the bill.
“We are proud to see the deeply pro-life state of North Carolina take this important step toward ending lethal discrimination against vulnerable unborn children,” said SBA List President Marjorie Dannenfelser, a North Carolina native. “In North Carolina and across the nation, the people are sending a clear message to pro-abortion politicians and to the Supreme Court: the extreme status quo imposed by Roe v. Wade has been rejected. State legislators acting on their constituents’ will have introduced more than 530 pro-life bills this year alone – 61 of them enacted in law. Despite a pro-abortion administration in Washington, life is winning in America and momentum is only growing.
“We thank state Reps. Pat McElraft, John Bradford, Kristin Baker, and Dean Arp, as well as our good friend and advocate Tami Fitzgerald, for working to advance this humane bill. We urge the state Senate to swiftly follow suit, and Governor Cooper to heed and not block North Carolinians’ will.”
Discriminatory, eugenic abortions have become of increasing concern with the growing availability of prenatal genetic testing. Unborn babies with Down syndrome and other disabilities are targeted for abortions at astronomical rates. Many believe sex-selection abortions also occur in the U.S., though data is limited.
A 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.
Many parents also feel pressured by doctors and genetic counselors to consider abortion after a prenatal diagnosis. One mom recently told the BBC that she was pressured to abort her unborn daughter 15 times after she was diagnosed with Down syndrome, including right up to the time of her baby’s birth. In another case, a mother from Brooklyn, New York said doctors tried to convince her to abort her unborn son for weeks before they took no for an answer.
A recent study highlighted in Scientific American found evidence that families of children with Down syndrome often face negative, biased counseling and pressure to have abortions.
Other states with laws that protect unborn babies with disabilities include Arkansas, Ohio, North Dakota, South Dakota, Missouri and Indiana. However, most are not in effect because of legal challenges.
