Arkansas Attorney General Petitions Supreme Court to Review Decision Blocking Law to Protect Babies with Down Syndrome

Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge

Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge on Tuesday petitioned the Supreme Court to review a decision blocking the enforcement of a law banning discriminatory abortions against babies with Down syndrome.

The decision was made on Jan. 5th by a three-judge panel from the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals. That decision upheld the District Court decision to block a 2019 Arkansas law that prohibits doctors from aborting babies when the decision is based “solely upon a diagnosis of Down syndrome or any other reason to believe the child has Down syndrome.”

“The Constitution does not require Arkansas to permit discrimination-by-abortion against Americans with Down syndrome,” said Attorney General Rutledge. “Through my personal friendships, I know that while individuals with Down syndrome may have an extra chromosome, they also have extra love and joy they share unconditionally, and I will not stand by while God’s gifts are exterminated as has been done in other countries.”

Rutledge noted that two members of the 8th Circuit panel made their decision purely on precedent; asking the Supreme Court to reconsider the precedent which led them to block the Arkansas law.

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