House Republicans have been challenging Virginia Democrats on abortion for months with a simple question: if you object to limits on elective abortion after 15 weeks, when in a 40 week pregnancy is too late to have an abortion?
Speaker Todd Gilbert, R-Shenandoah
“Four years ago, Virginia Democrats brought forward legislation that horrified the nation – a bill that would have opened the door to abortion until the moment of birth. Today, Virginia Democrats announced their support for a measure that goes even further: a Constitutional amendment that would remove all limits on elective abortion. Even the most ardent pro-choice Virginians are willing to draw a line somewhere. This amendment would remove them all,” Gilbert said.
Del. Margaret Ransone, R-Westmoreland
“Make no mistake, this amendment would remove every restriction on elective abortion in the Commonwealth. Existing Virginia law requires extraordinary circumstances for elective abortion in the third trimester. Some 80 percent of Americans believe abortion should be completely illegal in the third trimester. Yet this amendment would invalidate all time-based restrictions. Abortion on demand until the moment of birth would not only be the law of Virginia, it would be written into the Constitution,” Ransone said.
“The amendment is breathtaking in scope and horrifying in its impact. A woman preparing to deliver a healthy baby at 40 weeks, minutes from birth, facing no health concerns at all, could abort her child,” she added. “No physician sign off would be required. There would be no legal barriers at all.”
Sarah Parshall Perry, Senior Legal Fellow, Ed Meese III Center for Legal and Judicial Studies at The Heritage Foundation
“The proposed constitutional amendment would appear on its face to be inartfully drafted, and yet careful observation indicates that its vagaries are precisely designed to open the door to abortion on demand, for any reason, at any time, for any individual, including minors. Its failure to define critical terms, such as health, and individual, and the manner in which it apparently cancels out every possible infringement on a reproductive right makes it one of the most expansive legislative proposals for abortion access in the country,” Perry said.
Source: Virginia House GOP