(LifeSite News) A federal appeals court has ruled that the state of Tennessee may ban the eugenic abortion of babies with Down syndrome. The decision of the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals also ensures that an infant cannot be aborted because of his or her race or sex.
This is a partial victory for the pro-life Tennessee Republican Governor Bill Lee.
In July, Lee signed an omnibus pro-life bill that banned abortion once a fetal heartbeat was detected alongside a range of other abortion restrictions and conditions.
The bill required doctors to perform an ultrasound before an abortion and forbade them from going through with the abortion if the machine picked up a heartbeat. The bill also banned abortions sought specifically because of the unborn baby’s race, sex, or prenatal diagnosis of a disability such as Down syndrome.