Source: United States Senator for Oklahoma James Inhofe
U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.) introduced an amendment to the budget resolution today that would ban funding for an abortion being sought because the unborn child has Down syndrome. His amendment was cosponsored by Sens. Lankford, Blackburn, Braun, Cotton, Cramer, Daines, Ernst, Hagerty, Hawley, Marshall, Moran, Risch, Rounds, Rubio and Tim Scott.
The majority of Senate Democrats joined to block Sen. Inhofe’s amendment. Ahead of the vote, Inhofe spoke on the floor about his amendment.
His remarks as prepared for delivery:
Over two-thirds of unborn babies diagnosed with Down syndrome in the U.S. are aborted. Some countries, like Iceland, are eradicating their entire population of individuals with Down syndrome through abortion. An individual should not be discriminated against due to his or her chromosome count.
This is not partisan or extreme: 70 percent of Americans, including 56 percent of pro-abortion Americans, oppose abortion on the basis of a Down syndrome diagnosis. This amendment uses a budget mechanism to help protect the most vulnerable among us who are being systematically targeted through abortion. I urge my colleagues to support this important amendment.
Background
- June 2021 – Inhofe and Daines led a letter asking Majority Leader Schumer to give the Protecting Individuals with Down Syndrome Act a vote
- April 2021 – Inhofe, Lankford and Daines pushed the Senate to protect life in hate crimes legislation
- March 2021 – Inhofe in the Bartlesville Examiner-Enterprise: Bill would protect lives of unborn with Down syndrome
- February 2021 – Democrats block Inhofe’s legislation from receiving a vote
- January 2021 – As part of the annual March for Life celebration, Sen. Inhofe reintroduced the Protecting Individuals with Down Syndrome Act. The legislation is cosponsored by 25 senators
- October 2020 – Inhofe authors op-ed in McAlester News for Down syndrome Awareness Month
- October 2019 – Inhofe introduces the Down Syndrome Discrimination by Abortion Prohibition Act
- October 2019 – Pro Life leaders from around the country praise Inhofe’s Down Syndrome Discrimination by Abortion Prohibition Act