Measure blocking certain abortions advances

March 03-- Mar. 3--A bill that would create criminal and civil penalties for physicians that perform abortions based on the race, sex or a diagnosis of Down syndrome or physical disability has cleared the state House of Representatives.

The bill's sponsor, Rep. Melinda Gibbons Prunty, a Belton Republican, said she anticipates the bill will be heard in a Senate committee this week.

House Bill 5 would make it illegal to "intentionally perform an abortion in whole or in part," based on the sex, race, national origin or color of the fetus, or if the fetus had received a "diagnosis, or potential diagnosis, of Down syndrome or any other disability."

"I'm hoping it's going to be heard on Thursday," Prunty said last week. The bill is an expansion of a similar bill she sponsored in 2018, she said.

"Last year, I sponsored a bill (addressing) selective abortion just for Down syndrome. ...This expands it" to cover race, color and national origin, she said.

The bill, which has numerous co-sponsors, says an abortion can't be performed if the practitioner "has knowledge" the person is seeking an abortion based on the fetus' sex, race, color, national origin or because of a diagnosis of "Down syndrome or any other disability." The bill does include an exemption for medical emergencies.

Prunty said some European countries, particularly Iceland, had reduced the number of children born with Down syndrome "by selective abortion." CBS News reported in 2017 nearly 100 percent of woman who received a prenatal screening indicating Down syndrome "terminated their pregnancy."

The bill says a physician "or any other person" who knowingly performs an abortion based on sex, race, color or disability would be subject civil and criminal penalties. The penalties would also include revoking the practitioner's license to practice.

"It doesn't punish the mother, it punishes the abortionist," Prunty said.

The bill is a rights issue, she said.

"Frankly, I feel the ACLU should be on our side," Prunty said.

An "attending physician" to an abortion would have to "certify in writing whether (he or she) had knowledge" the woman was seeking an abortion for the reasons listed in the bill.

"They have to document they didn't know," Prunty said. "If it's found out they knew and performed it anyway, they could lose their license and it's a class D felony."

A person doesn't need to state a reason to have an abortion under current law. When asked how a physician is expected to know a patient's intent, Prunty said, "what might happen is (in) a conversation with a patient, the woman might just say.

"Basically, it's called the 'Human Rights and Child Discrimination Act. It extends the laws of the ADA (Americans With Disabilities Act) of 1990 and Title Seven of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. It extends those rights that are already in existing law to the unborn," she said.

Amber Duke, communications director for the American Civil Liberties Union of Kentucky, said the organization testified against the bill in the House committee where it was heard.

"There are a lot of questions that didn't come up on the House floor" about how the bill would work. "I think the answer (Prunty) gave on the floor is the woman would have to disclose" the reason to her doctor.

"We can't know all the personal or medical circumstances behind a person's decision to continue or end their pregnancy," Duke said. "We should just respect the decision of the family ... and not have to worry about interference from the state."

If House Bill 5 becomes law, it will be contested, Duke said.

The state ACLU is already pursuing three legal cases against abortion bills now being considered by state legislators, she said. House and Senate GOP leadership hope one of the abortion bills they pass will go to the U.S. Supreme Court, where it would be heard by a majority of justices appointed by Republican presidents, Duke said.

"Even folks in leadership have been very clear in they are hoping some of these cases will go to the Supreme Court," Duke said.

Prunty said she hopes one of Kentucky's abortion bills will make it the U.S. Supreme Court.

"Obviously, that's the desire," Prunty said. "But it will have to go through the state (courts) first."

James Mayse, 270-691-7303, jmayse@messenger-inquirer.com, Twitter: @JamesMayse

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