SALT LAKE CITY (AP) - The Latest on a bill to ban abortions based on Down syndrome (all times local):
4:15 p.m.
The Planned Parenthood Association of Utah says a Utah lawmaker’s bill to bar doctors from performing abortions sought because of a diagnosis of Down syndrome is about restricting access to abortion, not protecting those with Down syndrome.
The association’s President and CEO Karrie Galloway said in a statement Monday that the decision to terminate a pregnancy is “a deeply personal and sometimes complex decision” that should be left to women, their families, their doctors and their faiths.
Galloway said that though many parents find that having a child with Down syndrome is the right decision for them, other families should not be forced into the same situation.
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1:35 p.m.
A Utah lawmaker wants to bar doctors from performing abortions sought because of a diagnosis of Down syndrome even though legislative lawyers warn that there’s a high probability that a court will find the law unconstitutional.
Republican Rep. Karianne Lisonbee of Clearfield says the abortions smack of eugenics and discriminate against a group of people who have a right to exist.
Her legislation would make it a misdemeanor crime for a doctor who performs an abortion knowing that the pregnant woman is seeking to end the pregnancy because of a diagnosis or suspicion that the fetus has Down syndrome.
Women seeking the abortion would not be charged.
A handful of other states have passed similar laws but some are facing legal challenges.
The Planned Parenthood Association of Utah did not immediately have a response to the bill.
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