TOOELE, Utah – Parents are sounding off over a biology test question at a Utah high school that asked students to react to a doctor’s recommendation to abort an unborn child believed to have Down’s syndrome.

An Electronic High School student was taking a computer based biology final at a proxy testing site at Stansbury High School earlier this week when he came across Question 13 about abortion, took a picture with his cell phone, and forwarded the image to the education blog Utahns Against Common Core.

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The question read:

John and his sister Brittany are high school students in a small town. Their mother Jill is 40 years old and has just learned that she is pregnant with a child. Genetic testing has indicated that the child has Down’s syndrome. Their family doctor has recommended that Jill have an abortion. John and Brittany’s mother and father have called the family together to discuss their options. Which of the following statements describes how the family should make this decision?

Options provided included:

+ The parents should wait until the baby is ready to be born, then re-do the genetic tests to see if the results have changed.

+ The parents should consider many aspect of this decision including, religious beliefs, financial burden, the effect on other family members, the mother’s health, the doctor’s recommendation and the life of the unborn child and then make the best decision for everyone.

+ The doctor has more scientific knowledge. The parents should follow the advice of the doctor and have an abortion.

+ The parents should consider the wishes of the mother, since she will carry the greatest responsibility for the child, and do whatever she wants.

“The student said this question came up earlier in the year when taking a different test. This is a very disturbing question that appears to violate Utah law asking about potential religious and sexual beliefs,” Utahns Against Common Core opined on the situation.

“This is not a SAGE (state standardized) test, but some other provider openly seeking behavioral data on students.”

Electronic High principal Kathleen Webb told The Salt Lake Tribune the student violated test rules by taking a picture of the controversial question with his cell phone, but she’s glad he did. The need to expose the question superseded the rules, she said.

“In order of importance, the most important part is the students’ welfare,” Webb said.

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Oak Norton, the Utahns Against Common Core blogger who initially exposed the abortion question, said he believes the question violates state laws prohibiting schools from inquiring about students’ moral, political or religious views. He told the Tribune the question is also offensive in the sense that it doesn’t provide an answer for those who believe in the sanctity of life.

“It’s getting at, really, a survey of their beliefs,” he said. “It’s an opinion question, and it doesn’t even include a full range of opinions.”

Webb said the test question did not come from the school’s biology teacher, and officials are investigating its origin, as well as whether it may have violated the law.

The question is no longer in the test bank, she said.

“The test question was obviously inappropriate so that’s why it needed to be removed,” Webb told the Tribune. “It is not available to students.”

Parent Lori Higgins commented on Facebook that she’s proud of her son for exposing the abortion question.

“My son is the student who sent this to Utahns Against Common Core,” Higgins wrote. “I am so proud of him for recognizing that this question is inappropriate and for speaking out.”