ACLU Plans to Challenge Ohio’s Abortion Ban on Fetuses With Down Syndrome

The American Civil Liberties Union on Thursday announced plans to legally challenge a recently passed Ohio law that bans abortions after a prenatal test shows the fetus has or might have Down syndrome.

The ACLU said it will argue the law, which Ohio Gov. John Kasich (R.) signed in December, is unconstitutional, infringes upon a woman's right to make her own reproductive decisions, and does nothing to "address discrimination against people with disabilities."

"This ban is just another thinly veiled attempt to push abortion out of reach and interfere in a woman's personal decision," said Freda Levenson, legal director of the ACLU of Ohio. "What this law does is to deny women's constitutional right to make their own reproductive decisions, and it also interferes with women's relationships with their doctors, by making it harder to have honest and informed conversations."

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