Bill Prohibits Abortion for Sex or Gender Abnormalities - KXNet - Bismarck/Minot/Williston/Dickinson

Bill Prohibits Abortion for Sex or Gender Abnormalities

Six abortion related bills are still on the table after the halfway mark of the session.

Two of those have a second hearing today in the Senate Judiciary Committee.

House Bill 1305 prohibits abortions for sex selection or genetic abnormalities.

Representative Bette Grande says sex selection is not just a problem in China and India, it is going on in the U.S.

She says 163 million girls are missing from the world because they have been aborted.

Supporters say discrimination laws should also apply to unborn babies.

Grande says 70 to 100% of unborn babies diagnosed with down syndrome and other abnormalities are aborted.

"Persons born with Down Syndrome and other abnormalities possess the same inalienable rights as all human beings, but they are being targeted in the womb. And often times based on inaccurate data," says Grande.

Another bill heard today, House Bill 1456, would prohibit abortions if a heartbeat is detected with exceptions for medical emergencies. 

Janelle Moos with the Council of Abused Women's Services says none of the proposed abortion related bills include exemptions for rape victims.

She is against the bills for that reason.

"Being able to have to carry that baby is another reminder of the trauma they experienced. We don't encourage victims to have an abortion but to make a decision that's best for them. Ultimately this bill doesn't let them choose anymore. They have to keep that baby and it's not their choice," says Moos.

The House Human Services Committee is set to hear four other abortion related bills Wednesday in the Fort Union room starting at 9:00. Those bills are: SB 2305, SB 2368, SB 2303 and SCR 4009.