West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice has signed into law the “Unborn Child with a Disability Protection and Education Act,” which is designed to protect preborn babies with a disability, like Down syndrome, from being aborted because of a prenatal diagnosis.

Signed into law on World Down Syndrome Day, the legislation states that a medical professional “may not intentionally perform or attempt to perform or induce an abortion of a fetus, if the abortion is being sought because of a disability.”

“Today we celebrate World Down Syndrome Day!” Justice tweeted, including a picture of himself with supporters who attended the signing. “That made for the perfect day to sign SB 647 and SB 468. Both bills give deserved respect to our Down Syndrome community.”

In a touching gesture, Justice gave the pen he used to Chloe Kondrich, a young girl who has Down syndrome.

On Twitter, Chloe’s father Kurt wrote, “When the Governor of West Virginia signs a historic law banning Down syndrome abortion and gives the pen to your daughter-PRICELESS!”

The plight of preborn children with Down syndrome and the eugenic practice of aborting these babies came to national attention after a CBS News report about the disappearance of Iceland’s Down syndrome population due to a 99% abortion rate.

As part of the report, CBS News quoted geneticist Kari Stefansson, who claimed that the country has “basically eradicated, almost, Down syndrome from our society—that there is hardly ever a child with Down syndrome in Iceland anymore.”

Essentially, abortion has become a “cure” for Down syndrome.

The problem is not limited to Iceland or Europe, where the abortion rate for Down syndrome is estimated to be somewhere between 90-98%. In the United States, between 67-85% of preborn babies with an in-utero diagnosis of Down syndrome are aborted. Abortion providers often pitch abortion as a “cure” for other abnormalities as well.

In addition to protecting preborn babies with disabilities, the bill also requires abortionists to report every abortion and whether “the presence or presumed presence of any disability in the unborn human being had been detected.” As abortion tracking remains deficient in the U.S., this extra step will help the state monitor the number of abortions.

Pro-abortion politicians are unhappy with the bill.

“This is an attempt to use people with disabilities as props for an anti-abortion agenda, something that the disability community has not asked for, as far as I know—and that’s just wrong,” Democrat Del. Evan Hansen said. “It creates government overreach into personal family medical decisions.”

West Virginians for Life offered their support, stating: “We are allowing eugenic policies to be carried out that endanger women’s bodily health.

“What these mothers really need is information, education, and support to help them deal with their special children. Families raising children with Down syndrome are overwhelmingly positive about their experience.”

Photo: Courtesy of West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice's Office