Down syndrome abortion bill set for vote in Ohio later today

COLUMBUS (AP) — The Ohio House is set to vote later today on a bill banning abortions based on a diagnosis of Down syndrome.

The bill being considered would subject doctors who perform abortions in such cases to criminal penalties and the potential loss of their medical licenses.

Also today, House hearings begin again on the so-called Heartbeat Bill that would ban abortions at the first detectable fetal heartbeat.

Advocates want the bill to spark a legal challenge to Roe v. Wade, the landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion.

The second bill’s proponents describe terminating pregnancies in such cases as a form of discrimination stemming from misinformation and society’s growing perfectionism.

Abortion-rights groups say it’s part of a steady effort in Ohio to limit legal abortions.