Missouri bill would prevent abortion for Down syndrome

A Missouri state senator is proposing a bill that would prevent abortions solely because a test indicated the baby has or could develop Down syndrome.

The bill, pre-filed by Sen. David Sater, R-Cassville, also would require doctors who perform abortions in such cases to certify that they didn’t know an abortion was sought because of the Down syndrome diagnosis. A doctor who violates the bill’s provisions would face up to a year in prison and a $1,000 fine, The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported.

Down syndrome is a genetic disorder that causes developmental and intellectual delays.

Sater led efforts in 2014 to pass a bill that requires a woman to wait 72 hours after seeing a doctor before having an abortion.

North Dakota has banned abortions because of a fetal genetic abnormality such as Down syndrome, and Ohio is considering a similar measure.

In an interview with The Associated Press, Rep. Stacey Newman, D-St. Louis, said such decisions should be left to the woman and her doctor.

“It’s no one else’s business in terms of medical advice that you would have or decisions that you and your partner would need to make getting a diagnosis,” she said. “A genetic disorder that has been diagnosed is traumatic enough without someone else interfering and putting another burden on that woman’s legal decision.”

The bill is SB 802.