(Washington, D.C.) – U.S. Senator David Vitter (R-La.) today introduced the Prenatal Nondiscrimination Act, a bill that would make it illegal to obtain an abortion due to a gender preference. Vitter’s bill has 26 co-sponsors.

“It’s flat out morally wrong to assign different values to unborn babies’ lives based on gender, but believe it or not, it happens,” said Vitter.

Vitter’s Prenatal Nondiscrimination Act would bring the U.S. closer to eradicating gender discrimination. It would authorize civil actions by fathers and maternal grandparents (if the mother is a minor) whose unborn children and grandchildren are victims of gender discrimination abortions. The bill would also provide civil remedies to women who are intimidated, manipulated, or forced into receiving such an abortion, and it would require medical and mental health professionals to report suspicion or knowledge of such an abortion.

Asia has already lost over 160 million unborn baby girls to gender discrimination abortions, and according to a 2009 study in the American Economic Journal, over the span of 13 years at least 2,000 Asian American baby girls were lost in the United States to gender discrimination abortions.

Vitter has been a consistent advocate for the sanctity of human life in both the Senate and the House, earning a 100% pro-life voting record from the National Right to Life Committee.