Ohio House approves Down syndrome abortion bill

11/1/2017

COLUMBUS — The Ohio House has approved a bill banning abortions based on a diagnosis of Down syndrome.

The bill before lawmakers on Wednesday would subject doctors who perform abortions in such cases to criminal penalties and the potential loss of their medical licenses.

It now goes to the state Senate.

Also Wednesday, House hearings began again on the so-called Heartbeat Bill that would ban abortions at the first detectable fetal heartbeat.

Advocates want the bill to spark a legal challenge to Roe v. Wade, the landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion.

The second bill’s proponents describe terminating pregnancies in such cases as a form of discrimination stemming for misinformation and society’s growing perfectionism.

Abortion rights groups say it’s part of a steady effort in Ohio to limit legal abortions.