US Governor Stands for Life

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PIERRE, S.D. (ChurchMilitant.com) - While the radical Dems are threatening to make Roe v. Wade the law of the land, the governor of South Dakota is standing up for the lives of unborn babies with Down syndrome.

Governor Kristi Noem of South Dakota is introducing a bill that would ban abortions based on Down syndrome diagnosis. The bill, introduced Monday, soon followed the start of the 2021 legislative session that convened Jan. 12.

"I look forward to the day when the Supreme Court recognizes that all preborn children inherently possess this right to life, too," Noem said in her State of the State Address delivered earlier this month. 

"Until that time comes, I am asking the South Dakota Legislature to pass a law that bans the abortion of a preborn child, just because that child is diagnosed with Down syndrome," she said.  

"Let's make South Dakota a symbol of hope, justice and love for children like Cody and Valentina. With the help of several pro-life groups across the state, my team will present legislation for your consideration and swift passage," she continued.

Cody and Valentina are children who have Down syndrome and whose families attended the State of the State Address.

The governor further remarked:

God blessed these beautiful children with an additional chromosome. Their gorgeous smiles, distinct personalities and that vibrancy you see before you are all gifts from God. For those who have had the privilege of knowing someone with Down syndrome, you know that person ends up being a gift to all of us.  

The governor's views reflect pushback against recent abortion trends.

Discrimination: Eugenic Abortion 

Children with Down syndrome are aborted at shocking rates across the country. Two out of every three Down syndrome pregnancies in the United States end in abortion. In 2018, only 13 children with Down syndrome were born in South Dakota, according to South Dakota State News.

The governor contrasted the pro-life environment she is advancing in her home state with anti-life European countries like Iceland and Denmark — places leftist Sen. Bernie Sanders has touted as socialist utopias. These countries "have virtually eliminated children with Down syndrome by aborting nearly every child that has it," she noted.

A spokesperson for Students for Life of America (SFLA), Kristi Hamrick, expressed her organization's support for Noem's bill. Hamrick on Tuesday told Church Militant:

SFLA believes that we must protect life in the womb and that it's an act of discrimination to end someone's life based on perceptions of their abilities. Gov. Noem's decision to protect preborn life is the kind of leadership that the pro-life generation is looking for, and as our poll out today shows, represents the kind of limits on abortion that Millennials and Gen Z support. 

"The Declaration of Independence summarizes what we all know in our hearts to be true: God created each of us and endowed all of us with the right to life," Noem stated in her address. "This is true for everyone, including those with an extra chromosome."

Noem's bill was introduced on the heels of the 48th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, a decision that has resulted in the killing of well over 62 million babies.

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