Bill would ban abortions for fetal disability or gender

A state senator's proposal seeks to prohibit abortions if the provider knows the procedure is being sought because of the fetus's gender or due to a genetic mental or physical disability such as Down syndrome.

Senate Bill 334, filed by Markle Republican Travis Holdman, would make it a felony for providers to perform abortions in those instances.

"We support the bill, because we don't believe an unborn child should be discriminated against based on disability or sex," said Mike Fichter, president and CEO of Indiana Right to Life.

But the proposed legislation riles some.

"It's always scary when a legislative body wants to practice medicine," said Carolyn Meagher, co-president of the Indiana Religious Coalition for Reproductive Justice. She added: "Why is this a matter of public health that they're determining this?"

Meagher suggested that a better way to reduce abortions would be to provide more comprehensive sexual education and more services for people with disabilities.

"When our state creates laws that restrict the ability (for people) to look at their options and decide what is best for them, we are hurting people," she said.

She also said it's not common for women to terminate pregnancies solely because of the gender of the fetus, calling that part of the bill a "smokescreen."

Holdman did not respond to a message seeking comment. A spokesman said Holdman was not in the Statehouse this week.

The bill has been assigned to the Senate's Health and Provider Services committee. Committee chairwoman Pat Miller, R-Indianapolis, said through a spokeswoman that she wanted to discuss the bill with Holdman before commenting on whether she intended to give the proposal a hearing.

Planned Parenthood of Indiana and Kentucky President and CEO Betty Cockrum said she was concerned about the breadth of the bill, which would apply the abortion ban to both a diagnosis or "potential diagnosis" of a disability.

The ban also would apply for a fetus's potential for any physical or mental "disease, defect or disability that is genetically inherited." It lists specifically: any kind of physical disfigurement, scoliosis, dwarfism, Down syndrome, albinism and amelia, a limb defect.

"Indiana is one of the most highly regulated, least accessible states in the country when it comes to abortion and reproductive health care," Cockrum said, criticizing state lawmakers who "seek to erect barriers rather than seeking to reduce unintended pregnancy in the first place."

She also highlighted the need for social services, saying, "It seems to be that part of this discussion needs to be adequately funding special-needs kids and special-needs households."

Fichter, with Indiana Right to Life, said he hoped the statehouse proposal would relieve the fear many parents feel after a diagnosis of disability. It would provide positive support, he said, when they are "simply scared and feel pressured to make abortion decisions," he said.

The bill would also "affirm these children have value as human life in the womb," Fichter said. He pointed out that "as a culture, we would never accept the killing of a 2-year-old with Down syndrome or disability," and argued the same societal standard should be upheld in utero.

Down syndrome is a chromosomal disorder that can lead to cognitive delays. It occurs more frequently with older mothers, according to the National Down Syndrome Society, and can be prenatally diagnosed in the first trimester.

Another proposal before the state legislature, House Bill 1093, would review information that health providers give to families after diagnoses of Down syndrome or other disabilities, before or after birth. Authored by Rep. Ron Bacon, R-Chandler, the bill would not allow pregnancy termination to be presented "as a neutral or acceptable option."

In 2012, political fact-checking news organization Politifact looked into a claim that "90 percent of Down syndrome children in America are aborted."

Politifact said the claim was likely overstated, since it found no national numbers exist. However, several older studies that focused on single regions reported abortion rates between 80 and 90 percent.

Under law in Indiana, a pregnant woman seeking an abortion is told that human life begins at fertilization and that a fetus can feel pain. She is shown a picture of her fetus and, unless she opts out, is given an ultrasound to hear the fetal heartbeat.

Call Star reporter Stephanie Wang at (317) 444-6184. Follow her on Twitter: @stephaniewang.