House Bill 1295, sponsored by Rep. Carolyn Crawford, would require the Department of Health to create a documentation process that all those performing abortions would need to follow prior to the abortion. The law authorizes the attorney general to bring enforcement action against those who perform abortion and do not follow the law.
Diagnoses of genetic abnormalities like Down Syndrome and Cystic Fibrosis lead to termination of the child more often than not. Even in non-fatal cases, as many as 67 percent of babies with Down syndrome are aborted in the United States.
Recent evidence suggests that as many as 95 percent of parents receiving a prenatal diagnosis of cystic fibrosis elect to terminate the child. On the basis of race and sex, a family’s preference for a male or a non-bi-racial child must absolutely come to an end in Mississippi. The pressure many women receive to have a particular kind of child is unacceptable in our diverse society.
The legislation will now return to the House for concurrence. If the House does concur, it will then head to the governor’s desk.
Ten other states have passed similar measures to ban abortions on the basis of sex, seven on the basis of disability.