Listen Live
US-ABORTION-SUPREME COURT

Source: JIM WATSON / Getty

A bill set to ban abortion on the basis of Down syndrome or race advanced in North Carolina legislature on Tuesday.

North Carolina’s House Health Committee approved the bill, which would require doctors to provide documentation under oath of any abortion performed with a set of details of why they did the procedure. Those documents would be reviewed by the state as the next level of oversight.

The Judiciary Committee will likely evaluate the bill Wednesday and decide if it will be moved along. Republicans who support this measure argue that “selective abortions” are discriminatory and it’s an issue needing to be addressed.

North Carolina is the 18th state to introduce a selective ban on abortions over the past two years, according to Planned Parenthood.

“This bill is not a sham,” said Julie Scott Emmons, a representative from the conservative N.C. Values Coalition, told the AP. “It actually places a hedge of protection around an entire class of human beings who should not have to pass a genetic test to earn the right to be born.”

While Democrats view this as another step towards a total abortion ban.

As it stand currently, North Carolina allows any medical provider or hospital with an opposition to abortion to opt out of the performing any procedure through “conscience protections.”

The legislature introduced the “Remove Barriers/Gain Access to Abortion Act,” or “RBG Bill,” back in March. It was an effort to remove some of the controversial, restrictive policies aimed toward banning abortions passed by the N.C. General Assembly in recent years.