Lee Releases Report for Down Syndrome Day

WASHINGTON—To highlight the importance of World Down Syndrome Day (March 21), Ranking Member Mike Lee (R-UT) released a new Joint Economic Committee report evaluating the costs of selective abortion for Americans with Down syndrome.

Lee said, “We celebrate the contributions that Americans with Down syndrome make to our families, neighborhoods, and communities. Every one of these lives is sacred and deserves respect, yet selective abortion continues to rob our society of their dignity and potential. Our latest research reveals the true costs and shows how our society would flourish if selective abortion were ended.”

Americans with Down syndrome have seen a dramatic rise in life expectancy over the past several decades and make substantial contributions to our families, workplaces, and communities. Yet, due in part to an increase in noninvasive prenatal screenings, approximately 67% of babies diagnosed with Down syndrome are selectively aborted every year.

The JEC’s report estimates that nearly 5,000 additional babies with Down syndrome would be born each year in the absence of selective abortion. Ending selective abortion would more than double the population of Americans with Down syndrome in the next 50 years.

Given the ongoing legal challenges to Roe v. Wade, it is more important than ever to understand the contributions that Americans with Down syndrome make every day to our social fabric and the costs of selective abortion.

Read the full report here.

The Joint Economic Committee is Congress’s bicameral economic research center and home of the Social Capital Project, led by Ranking Member Mike Lee.

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