Republicans at the national level this week jumped into the firestorm surrounding a Virginia abortion-rights bill, marking a rare instance in which a state issue has drawn harsh rebukes from members of Congress and the White House.
The bill, proposed by a Democratic state lawmaker, would have made it easier for women to get third trimester abortions if their health was threatened by pregnancy.
While the same measure was introduced without controversy in recent years, comments from the bill’s author and Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam (D) provoked outrage among anti-abortion groups, lawmakers on Capitol Hill, and even the president and vice president, with some saying the bill’s supporters were embracing infanticide.“To support, let alone cheer, late-term abortions not only marks a disturbing step backward by so-called ‘progressives’ — it also violates every demand of human decency,” Vice President Pence said in a National Review editorial published Thursday. “There’s another word for this: infanticide. And it is morally reprehensible and evil.”
In a video that went viral this week, bill sponsor Kathy Tran acknowledged that the legislation would allow a woman who is dilating to request an abortion if a doctor determined that childbirth would impair her mental health.
“It would allow that, yes,” Tran said in response to questions from House Majority Leader Todd Gilbert (R) during a committee hearing.
The measure failed to make it out of committee.
Virginia doesn’t have any time constraints for those seeking abortions, but Tran’s bill would have made it easier for women to get abortions in the third trimester by requiring the approval of only one doctor instead of the three mandated under current law.
By the time Northam was asked about the bill on a local radio show Wednesday, the controversy had already erupted on social media.He then added fuel to the fire when he said that third-term abortions are rare and typically occur when an infant is severely deformed or unable to survive after birth.
“In this particular example, if a mother is in labor, I could tell you exactly what would happen: 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,” Northam said.
“I think this was really blown out of proportion,” he added.
The governor later found himself at the center of a controversy after admitting he had appeared in a racist photo from when he was in medical school.
Republicans argue that Northam’s comments regarding the abortion bill were an endorsement of infanticide.
“Let’s be really clear about what we’re talking about here. We’re talking about fourth trimester abortion, or what anyone in the normal world calls infanticide,” Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Neb.) said Thursday on the Senate floor after reading Northam’s comments aloud.
“We’re talking about killing a baby that’s been born,” he said, pointing to Northam’s comments about the “discussion” between the mother and the doctors.
“And then a decision or debate would be had about whether or not you could kill that little baby,” Sasse said, offering his interpretation of Northam’s comments.
Sasse said he will expedite a bill for consideration on Monday that requires medical care for babies that survive abortions.
President Trump, GOP Sens. Bill Cassidy (La.) and Marco Rubio (Fla.) and Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel were among those who criticized Northam’s comments.
“I’m surprised that he did that,” Trump said in an interview with the Daily Caller, referring to Northam. “This is going to lift up the whole pro-life movement like maybe it’s never been lifted up before.”
A White House official on Friday said Trump would address “the fundamental importance and Respect of human life” in his State of the Union speech on Tuesday.
“I never thought I would see the day America had government officials who only support legal infanticide,” Rubio tweeted.
Northam’s office said the governor’s comments were not referring to infanticide, and that critics were making “bad faith” arguments.
“[Northam’s] comments focus on the tragic and extremely rare case in which a woman with a nonviable pregnancy or severe fetal abnormalities went into labor,” said Northam spokeswoman Ofirah Yheskel on Twitter.
“Extrapolating otherwise is bad faith and why health decisions should be between a woman and her doctor,” she added.
National anti-abortion groups like the Susan B. Anthony List and the National Right to Life have energized their supporters over the controversy, saying it’s an indication of where the Democratic Party is heading.
They drew comparisons to a New York bill signed into law last week by Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) that allows abortions after 24 weeks if a doctor determines the woman’s life or health is at stake, or if the fetus is not viable.
“On the heels of New York’s radical expansion of abortion, Delegate Tran’s bill and Governor Northam’s statements reveal with alarming clarity what the modern Democratic Party stands for and their agenda for our nation – abortion on demand, up until the moment of delivery and even beyond,” said Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the Susan B. Anthony List. “This position is irreconcilable with the beliefs, values, and desires of most Americans.”
Northam’s defenders contend that abortion opponents are misleading the public.
“The misinformation being spewed by anti-choice politicians, right-wing media and Trump around VA and NY’s abortion bills is egregious and we must set the record straight and remember the anti-choice movement has one goal: ban abortion and criminalize women and doctors,” tweeted Ilyse Hogue, president of NARAL Pro-Choice America, which worked to elect Northam in 2017.
“To work towards this goal, they must deceive the public and twist the facts, especially when it comes to women who need abortion later in pregnancy,” she added.
Source: https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/428130-virginia-abortion-bill-reignites-national-debate?fbclid=IwAR30NaMWte5q_m3eUV9wjELU1-31HS-aFoAJN1iyNkox4O8k3q4jBuS0JQA
February 3, 2019 at 7:27 pm
She should have just Barney Franked him and asked, “What planet do you live on?” So-called “pro-lifers” will always reach for the extremes.
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February 4, 2019 at 3:54 am
they didn’t ‘jump in.’ They responded to a disgusting bill proposed by Virginia. I am really curious though, in all seriousness. Abortion is applauded for being important to women’s health. So how does killing a new born baby as this proposed law does benefit the health of the mother?
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February 4, 2019 at 7:01 am
Two comments! So this one I had to read. And it’s another step towards the pro-deather’s goal — If you get in my way, I’ll kill you.
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February 4, 2019 at 4:55 pm
This discussion belongs between a women, her family and her doctor, this type of circumstances is beyond rare but legally stalling and waiting to find 3 doctors could endanger her life/health further, because if this were being considered – some dangerous abnormality or pregnancy complications had to have had occurred already. While we have all the time in the world to split hair this topic to death, the decision between who to save mother or fetus/baby for a doctor/woman/family needs to take a heartbeat or two NOT waiting for 3 doctors (who may have very different abortion philosophies to agree) while meanwhile BOTH may die!
It’s a complex topic, to be the point that when I had a midwife for my pregnancy, I specifically asked to speak to her back up doc (the doc who’s calls the shots if my pregnancy hit a shit storm!) and asked him what his and the hospital’s policy was if I had a later term severe, significant health issue or if the pregnancy did. I needed reassurance that they would understand that MY LIFE takes precedence NOT my pregnancy’s life! My husband and I should be able to decide for ourselves to save ME, not my pregnancy – it’s barely a life while I am full grown adult, with responsibilities to my family, husband, children, career, church and community.
To take that decision out MY HANDS, MY DOCTOR”S HANDS and MY FAMILIES HANDS is a MORAL TRAVESTY.
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February 6, 2019 at 4:54 am
The travesty is your obsession with “MY,”
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February 11, 2019 at 12:25 pm
Yeah, MY LIFE MATTERS, way more than a cluster of cells that could hardly survive outself of my body for most of the pregnancy. Cute how that’s your only reponse and it completely IGNORES my argument of it’s barely a life while I AM A FULL GROWN ADULT W RESPONSIBILITIES TO MY FAMILY, HUSBAND, CHILDREN ETC, it is the height of irresponsibility and hubris to expect a woman to want to end her own in favor of a doomed pregnancy while leaving her family a breadwinner short, a widower to take care of children alone w a new baby mourning the loss of his wife… Yup, that’s a bit heartless of you!
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