Thread by @stevenmazie

💥 Major abortion decision today @ 6th circuit: 9–7 majority permits Ohio to bar doctors from providing abortions to women who want to end their pregnancies because the fetus has Down Syndrome.

Prohibition applies before viability, undercutting the abortion right in Roe/Casey.

Here are all the opinions opn.ca6.uscourts.gov/opinions.pdf/2…

Much of the highly contentious discussion in the concurrences and dissents concerns how to think about women aborting fetuses with Down Syndrome. The majority calls them modern-day eugenicists while dissenters deplore this characterization. Here's Judge Karen Moore:

And here is Judge Julia Gibbons

The central doctrinal point of contention: whether the Ohio law constitutes an undue burden on the right to pre-viability abortion.

Judge Jeffrey Sutton says no way...

...while Judge Bernice Donald says it's absolutely an undue burden.

This syllogism from Judge Donald is persuasive

A year ago @ProfMMurray mentioned to me she was working on a paper on eugenics, race and abortion & a nascent strategy for taking down Roe v. Wade. Lo and behold, it's here.

Given today's 6th circuit ruling, this is jumping to the top of my reading list harvardlawreview.org/2021/04/race-i…