• Down syndrome is a genetic condition that delays physical and intellectual development.

• In Massachusetts, it occurs more often than any other birth defect.

• Despite developmental delays, individuals with Down syndrome achieve success: many elementary-school-age students attend regular school; high school students graduate with degrees and go on to graduate school; some become celebrities like actors Chris Burke and Tommy Jessup, rapper Laz-D, and Ironman triathlete Chris Nikic.

• 88% of children born with Down syndrome reach age 20; many live into their sixties and seventies.

• In Massachusetts, 49% of babies, diagnosed prenatally with Down syndrome, are aborted.

• The abortion rate for the next most prevalent birth defect – cardiovascular - is less than 1%.

• Down syndrome is often referred to as “the canary in the coal mine” for selective reproduction.

• H.2409 seeks to stem the tide of discrimination against unborn children diagnosed with Down syndrome and steer us off the path of selective reproduction. It does not ban any abortion. It merely prohibits an abortion provider, who knows a pregnant woman is seeking an abortion, based solely on a prenatal diagnosis of Down syndrome, from performing the abortion. She is free to seek an abortion from another provider.

• Abortion access is available and convenient. Over 87% of women in Massachusetts live in a county with a clinic that provides abortions.

• H. 2409 will preserve the life of individuals with the capacity to further enrich the fabric of society in Massachusetts, just by being alive.