SBA List Slams PA Governor’s Veto of Discrimination Abortion Ban

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 22, 2019
CONTACT: Mallory Quigley
[email protected] 202-223-8073

Washington, D.C. – In response to Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf’s veto of the Down Syndrome Protection Act (H.B. 321), which passed 117-76 in the state House of Representatives and 27-22 in the state Senate, the national pro-life group Susan B. Anthony List (SBA List) issued the following statement:

“Shame on Governor Wolf for blocking this compassionate, popular bill. He has signed a death sentence for countless unborn babies targeted for abortion merely because they may have Down syndrome,” said Susan B. Anthony List President Marjorie Dannenfelser. “The Pennsylvania legislature’s bold action is part of growing nationwide momentum to put an end to lethal discrimination – but Governor Wolf is an abortion extremist who consistently obstructs the will of Pennsylvanians. We thank our local allies, especially our National Pro-Life Women’s Caucus member and lead sponsor Rep. Kate Klunk, as well as the Pennsylvania Family Institute led by Michael Geer, for their tireless efforts to advance this bill. States deserve the right to protect their most vulnerable children and urgency is growing for the Supreme Court to weigh in.”

Michael Geer, President of the Pennsylvania Family Institute, also added:

“Governor Tom Wolf believes it’s just fine to kill babies in the womb solely because of a prenatal diagnosis of a disability. That is eugenics. That’s wrong. And one way Pennsylvanians can respond to Governor Wolf’s veto is by marching with us at the first-ever Pennsylvania March for Life on May 18, 2020. Together, we can tell Governor Wolf and everyone in Harrisburg that life should be protected.”

In an amicus curiae brief to the U.S. Supreme Court in the case of Commissioner of Indiana Department of Health v. Planned Parenthood of Indiana and Kentucky, SBA List argued that the viability rule established by Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey is arbitrary and does not preclude a state government’s exercise of its interest in prohibiting discrimination against individuals, including those with Down syndrome, and that the Court can uphold prenatal antidiscrimination laws without violating its precedents. The brief also notes, “Research has shown that individuals with Down syndrome are among the happiest people in the world and bring tremendous joy to their families. In some Western nations, however, children diagnosed with Down syndrome are on the verge of being eliminated from society through selective abortion.”

SBA List is a network of more than 837,000 pro-life Americans nationwide, dedicated to ending abortion by electing national leaders and advocating for laws that save lives, with a special calling to promote pro-life women leaders.

###

Share this article: