Abortion Ban Bill Heads to Senate

A Senate committee passed a bill Wednesday prohibiting women from having abortions because of the child’s gender or disability. 

Fort Wayne Republican Senator Liz Brown’s bill bars abortions when the procedure is done because of the child’s gender or if they have a disability such as Down syndrome.  

Mary O’Callaghan is an Indiana resident and the mother of a child with Down’s.  She said abortion because of a prenatal disability diagnosis is a short-sighted solution.  And O’Callaghan said allowing those abortions helps perpetuate what she sees as discrimination against people with disabilities:

“Banning abortion due to disability sends a clear message to mothers that their child’s disability is not a death sentence," she said. 

Opponents of the bill say it limits the mother’s right to choose and that forcing a woman to carry a child with a disability to term is cruel.  The committee approved the bill seven to four.  It now heads to the Senate floor.  

2/18/15   Gender, Disability Abortions Bill v2     Brandon Smith
Opponents of a bill barring women from having abortions because of the child’s gender or disability say it will restrict a woman’s right to choose.  Indiana Public Broadcasting’s Brandon Smith reports:
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The proposed legislation, authored by Fort Wayne Republican Senator Liz Brown, prohibits abortions done because of the child’s gender or if they have a genetic disability such as Down syndrome.  Supporters say the measure helps women know they have options beyond abortion and that a child being diagnosed with a disability is not a death sentence.  But Hoosier Victoria Barrett, the mother of a two-month old son, says that’s not what the bill does.  Barrett says she terminated an earlier pregnancy in 2013 when doctors determined that genetic anomalies would have prevented the baby from surviving:
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“If state law had forced me to carry my dying daughter until she fell apart in the womb, to deliver that destroyed body as I delivered my Finn, I would never have risked another pregnancy.”
The committee approved the bill seven to four.  It now heads to the Senate floor.  For Indiana Public Broadcasting, I’m Brandon Smith.