Down syndrome abortion ban law hits federal courts

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A federal court in Cincinnati heard complex legal arguments yesterday concerning Ohio's Down syndrome abortion bill.

The Ohio law prohibits physicians from performing abortions if they are aware there is a diagnosis of Down syndrome.

Those who defy the law face a low level felony charges and could be stripped of there medical license,and be liable for legal damages,women patients face no charges under this law.

This and similar proposals around the country have triggered emotional debate over womens right,parental love and trust between doctor.

Opponents,meanwhile call the law an illegal reason ban,they say it under cuts the womans independent decision making process,by attempting to get inside her head.

Yesterday's hearing follows two earlier court decisions in which a federal judge and a three panel of judges has ruled the law unconstitutional.

USA TODAY

Interesting.

However, the court may take into account previous laws against discrimination against someone for their age, caste, criminal record, height, disability, family status, gender identity, gender expression, generation, genetic characteristics, marital status, nationality, color, race and ethnicity, religion, sex and sex characteristics, sexual orientation, social class, species, as well as other categories.

21-Trisomy (a.k.a., Down Syndrome) is a genetic characteristic -- a defect in which there are 3 copies of the 21st chromosome.

Do unborn children have the same rights as children that are born? Does the moment of birth determine whether or not a person has any rights at all?

If autism was found to have a purely genetic origin, would you want to see unborn children being aborted for being autistic?

I am sure all those factors were argued in a highly passionate way,abortion does have a way of bringing out people's emotions.

I suspect the 6th district court in Cincinnati will rule as did the previous two courts and rule against the law.

It's vertually unenforceable anyway,there is no way to prove anyone knew the aborted child had Down syndrome.

Genetic testing of the fetal material can be used.

There would be no way to prove that genetic testing happened if documents were shredded and computer results doctored or deleted.Of coarse doctored or deleted computer files could be found by forensic investigator's,but that would require evidence to get a search warrant,without proof of the tests,there would be no probable cause for warrants.No chicken no egg,no egg no chicken,in other words the law is unenforceable.

I may not have been clear enough ... the determination that an unborn child has 21-Trisomy is usually accomplished through amniocentesis, which involves drawing a sample of the amniotic fluid and examining the fetal material therein for genetic anomalies. This is usually performed in hospitals which usually have extensive security protocols on all their files systems. Any physician with access to those files would know the condition of the unborn child before performing an abortion.

And under the law, if a doctor could know, then (s)he likely does know...

"Doctor, are you trying to tell this court that you neglected to consult the defendant's medical records before performing the procedure that resulted in the death of her unborn child?"

... or ...

"Doctor, are you trying to tell this court that you consulted the defendant's medical records, knew her unborn child had a condition that prohibited the procedure, and you decided anyway to conduct the procedure that resulted in the death of her unborn child?"

Either way, the doctor is in deep doo-doo.

It's highly unlikely that in a very busy hospital,which most hospitals are very busy,that a doctor couldn't delete a file and get away with.Hospitals are institutions of never ending record keeping,never ending record keeping,a file in this envirement could be deleted and the doctor would never be questioned.

It would be like catching a doctor or a nurse taking home a stash of oxy's or dilaudid,they do it it all the time and are never questioned,even though such drugs need to be signed out with a pass card.But in a huge busy overworked hospital who is going to notice some missing narcotics.

Security protocols do not allow physicians to delete patients' files. There is always a backup of a pre-edit file.

There is no way for physicians to cover their tracks this way, in spite of what you may have seen on TV.

Maybe,maybe not,hospitals are busy and chaotic places where details can be easily missed.I don't know anything about cyber or computer security or how anything like that works,I can't really respond to that.But drug use and insurance fraud happens all the time in hospitals and medical clinics and the enviroment is usually to chaotic for anyone to take notice.I don't know anything about the types of security used in medical records but people usually find a find a way around things if they want to and are clever.

Actually to think of it,privacy in medical records may be one of the arguments used against this law,because this law only functions if the goverment has access to your medical records.As far as I know in all 50 states medical records are private and confidential.

Just for the record,in no way do I support Down syndrome abortion at all,but I don't believe an end run around the constitution is the way to solve this serious problem.

Are foetuses at 16 weeks viable individuals ? If so , then they should be protected under the law , Down Syndrome not withstanding . If not , then even foetuses with Trisomy 21 should not be given special status . I feel that the law must recognize a woman's right to choose , whether or not I personally agree with the motive behind it . Equal rights under the law , no more or less .

Viable, yes, in the environment for their maturity level (the womb.) I am not viable in Siberia, because I am a small man who needs to eat more; this does not make me less a man.

Aborting Downs' syndrome kids at 16 weeks is the same as shooting them at 16 years: one person thinking their life is more important than another's.

I hope that the motion doesn't go through. People with down syndrome should have as much of a right to life as everybody else. If Hitler wasn't born, none of this would happen.

Not everyone can raise or wants to raise a specific needs child or even a typical child because they can't afford to or aren't fans of kids. Gonna be more work for social services then who are run off their feet now with all the case of neglected and abused kids they don't need more to deal with. The ones who keep DS kids have more dollars than sense imo as they can afford it. I think if you keep it then all costs associated are your responsibility and not one bit of outside help.