Federal judge blocks Indiana law that bans abortions on babies with Down syndrome

A federal judge had blocked an Indiana law that is aimed at banning abortions on unborn babies who were diagnosed with genetic disabilities such as Down syndrome.

House Bill 1337 would have prohibited doctors from aborting unborn babies solely because of a genetic disability such as Down syndrome, the infant's race or sex. It was signed by then-governor Mike Pence in 2016, but it was temporarily blocked by Judge Tonya Walton Pratt last summer at the request of Planned Parenthood, according to Life News.

On Friday, Pratt issued a permanent injunction against the law, claiming that it was unconstitutional.

The legislation also requires the cremation or burial of aborted or miscarried babies and instructs abortionists to renew their hospital admitting privileges annually.

Attorney General Curtis Hill expressed plans to appeal the permanent injunction to the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago.

"By declaring unconstitutional a state law that would bar abortions based solely on race, sex or disability such as Down syndrome, a federal judge has cleared the path for genetic discrimination that once seemed like science fiction," Hill said in a written statement to IndyStar.

"This state has a compelling interest in protecting the dignity of the unborn and in ensuring they are not selected for termination simply because they lack preferred physical characteristics. Further, requiring that the remains of deceased unborn children be accorded at least the dignity of low-cost burials or cremation is hardly an impingement of anyone's individual rights," Hill added.

Planned Parenthood of Indiana and Kentucky filed the lawsuit challenging the law in April 2016 in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana.

When the preliminary injunction was issued in June that year, Pratt noted that the law would likely be found unconstitutional. The judge acknowledged that the state has an interest in protecting and promoting life but she contended that a woman's liberty trumps the state's interest.

Pratt had previously blocked provisions of a 2011 Indiana law that would have denied taxpayer funds to abortion businesses and required that pregnant women be informed about an unborn child's capability to feel pain.

Indiana state Sen. Liz Brown, who worked on the House Bill 1337, previously stated that many families are being pressured by doctors and healthcare professionals to abort their unborn babies when they are diagnosed with a disability.

The legislation would have made Indiana the second state to ban abortions on babies with genetic disabilities. In 2013, North Dakota became the first state to prohibit abortions based on a prenatal diagnosis of disabilities such as Down syndrome.