In the aftermath of New York's implementation of a radical new abortion law, Virginia Democrats are pushing a similar measure that would legalize virtually all abortions up until the moment of birth -- and possibly beyond. Cortney posted a clip of an abortion advocate admitting that the legislation would allow an abortion while the mother was in labor, nine months into her pregnancy, justified by a perceived threat to her "mental health." I could hardly bring myself to even watch this video:
Heartbreaking... This isn't in New York, this isn't in California, this happened just this week right here in Virginia. @VAHouseDems proposed legislation to provide abortions up to just seconds before that precious child takes their first breath. Watch for yourself. pic.twitter.com/AxgPVyI6kU
— VA House GOP (@vahousegop) January 29, 2019
Addressing this controversy, the state's new "moderate" Democratic governor gave an interview to a DC news radio program and appeared to affirm that he'd sign a bill that would extend a mother's abortion "choice" until after birth. In case you missed Lauretta's piece yesterday, I can only describe this as sickening:
VA gov on abortion this morning:
— Caleb Hull (@CalebJHull) January 30, 2019
“If a mother is in labor...the infant would be delivered. The infant would be kept comfortable. The infant would be resuscitated if that’s what the mother and the family desired, and then a discussion would ensue between the physicians & mother" pic.twitter.com/cc15pVLjIQ
Northam is either unaware of the specifics of the bill, or he’s lying about them. Tran’s legislation explicitly removes the current requirement that three physicians agree that a woman is in need of a late-term abortion. The new bill would require only the consent of the mother and of the physician performing the abortion. But he went on to say something even more heinous. “If a mother is in labor, I can tell you exactly what would happen,” he continued. “The infant would be delivered. The infant would be kept comfortable. The infant would be resuscitated if that’s what the mother and the family desired, and then a discussion would ensue between the physicians and the mother.”
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The infant would be "kept comfortable" after being born alive, as other people decide whether or not to let her live. This is not "pro-choice." This is abortion fanaticism, moving seamlessly into a grotesque defense of straight-up infanticide. It's disturbing. It's evil. I am willing to concede that debating the legality of first trimester abortions can be thorny and complicated. But the overwhelming majority of Americans oppose legalized abortion starting in the fourth month of the unborn child's life for good reason. As a child develops, she becomes a fully-formed person who can experience pain and even survive outside the womb as early as midway through the second trimester. This country's abortion laws are already out of step with those of nearly all civilized nations -- virtually every single one of which places stricter limitations on the highly controversial practice.
For reasons that I truly cannot fathom, significant elements of the Democratic Party seem hellbent on enshrining some of the most horrifyingly inhumane and extreme abortion stances one can imagine into law. The governor's semi-walk-back doesn't specify what sort of "abnormalities" would justify such barbarity, nor does it address the fact that the bill he's defending allows abortion for the entire pregnancy. His indignant 'how dare you' pushback is belied by his own words, and the appalling bill he defended, under which a viable seven-to-nine-month-old unborn child could be legally killed for nearly any reason. Previous safeguards and restrictions under Virginia law would be eliminated. David French explains that the bill is as horrific as feared:
The bill reduces the number of doctors required to certify the alleged medical need for an abortion from three to one, and — critically — eliminates any required showing of severity before the doctor and mother can determine that the birth would impair her physical or mental health. Under the bill’s actual text, virtually any claim of impairment would suffice to meet the act’s requirements. Anxiety? Depression? The conventional physical challenges of post-partum recovery? Any of those things could justify taking the life of a fully formed, completely viable, living infant. That’s infanticide. That’s barbarism.
What is happening in our country. This literally makes me sick to my stomach....#AdoptionIsAlwaysAnOption https://t.co/OdAU4gjMh8
— Nikki Haley (@NikkiHaley) January 30, 2019
This is sick. The Democrats have gone off the deep end on this and they seem to have shut down all discussion about where the lines are. Northam is a "moderate" ! https://t.co/hAjJaszCUc
— Tim Miller (@Timodc) January 30, 2019
We are one of only seven nations in the world, along with North Korea and China, to allow abortion on demand after 20 weeks. Our existing law is extreme, and as a pro-life American, I cannot support anyone who supports it. 1/2
— Meghan McCain (@MeghanMcCain) January 29, 2019
Call this what this is @GovernorVA - you’re endorsing infanticide https://t.co/s3ZniTqjDQ
— Meghan McCain (@MeghanMcCain) January 30, 2019
There are times that my dissatisfaction with the Republican Party prods me to consider taking my support elsewhere. But the mainstreaming of overtly pro-abortion, anti-human rights sentiment and policies within the Democratic Party presents a stark and unavoidable reminder that there is absolutely no room for me in that coalition. This is a tragedy and an outrage that I cannot accept. I'll leave you with Allahpundit -- an atheist, by the way -- spitting righteously hot fire: "Ask a progressive to name the most vicious thing Trump has done while in office and they’re apt to cite his family separation policy at the border. Practically to a man or woman, all of those same people either enthusiastically support or comfortably tolerate a Democratic leadership that thinks actual out-of-the-womb infanticide is unproblematic. They’re diseased. How could any righty, anti-Trump or not, support them?"
UPDATE - Sen. Ben Sasse, speaking for countless Americans, goes off:
Sasse is the author of the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act, which would impose penalties on physicians that refuse medical care to infants born alive in botched abortion procedures. “This is morally repugnant,” Sasse said of Northam’s comments. “In just a few years pro-abortion zealots went from ‘safe, legal, and rare’ to ‘keep the newborns comfortable while the doctor debates infanticide.’ I don’t care what party you’re from — if you can’t say that it’s wrong to leave babies to die after birth, get the hell out of public office.”
This also seems significant:
"I'll be quite frank: most of my abortions are elective in that 20-24 week range," Haskell said. "In my particular case, probably 20 percent [of the abortions] are for genetic reasons. And the other 80 percent are purely elective." https://t.co/YD6BKzwleL https://t.co/YLdkjd6ngZ
— John McCormack (@McCormackJohn) January 31, 2019
UPDATE - A member of the Virginia House of Delegates has withdrawn her support for the bill, apologizing for not having read it:
Breaking: Virginia State Delegate @DawnAdamsVA APOLOGIZES to constituents for co-sponsoring barbaric new law that would permit babies to be killed by abortion through all 40 weeks of pregnancyhttps://t.co/ophO7r7GvS
— Susan B. Anthony List (@SBAList) January 31, 2019
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