Delaware lawmakers passed a radical piece of pro-abortion legislation Tuesday that would eliminate almost all regulations and restrictions on abortion.
The AP reports Delaware Senate Bill 5 passed the state House on Tuesday in 22-16 vote, and now heads to pro-abortion Gov. John Carney, a Democrat. Carney said he will sign the bill.
Pro-abortion lawmakers said the bill will keep abortions legal in Delaware if the U.S. Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade. However, reports indicate the bill will go even further by eliminating common sense abortion regulations, such as parental involvement for minors, informed consent and restrictions on abortions once unborn babies are viable outside the womb.
A large crowd of pro-life advocates gathered to protest the bill Tuesday before the vote. Delaware Right to Life, which participated in the rally, described the legislation as a “radical abortion bill that allows barbaric late term abortions and expands Delaware’s already lax abortion laws.”
Here’s more from the AP:
Delaware’s current law, which has remained on the books despite being superseded for decades by federal law, allows abortions only if the mother’s health is at risk, if there is a substantial risk the child would be born with serious disabilities, or if pregnancy results from rape or incest.
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The law also prohibits abortions beyond 20 weeks of pregnancy and requires parental consent for girls under 18. It requires a woman to provide written consent and wait 24 hours after receiving a full explanation of the abortion procedure and effects, the facts of fetal development, and an explanation of reasonable alternatives.
The bill would get rid of all these regulations. According to Delaware RTL, Senate Bill 5 would allow underage girls to get secret abortions without their parents’ knowledge and would no longer require abortion facilities to inform women of the risks of abortion.
In addition, “[t]he bill FAILS to define ‘viability,’ using criteria from 1973, which would make it legal in Delaware to abort children for ANY reason up to 25 weeks. Abortions beyond viability would be APPROVED for the ‘health’ of the mother, defined in Doe v. Bolton as ‘all factors – physical, emotional, psychological, familial, and the woman’s age – relevant to the well-being of the patient,’” according to the pro-life group.
The bill also gets rid of government oversights of abortion facilities, such as residency requirements for abortion doctors. According to the pro-life group, this “means the likes of Kermit Gosnell will be free to practice in Delaware without oversight.”
Planned Parenthood, the largest abortion business in the U.S., lobbied for the legislation, the AP reports. Abortion activists have been pushing liberal states like Delaware, Maryland, Illinois and New York to pass laws codifying abortion in their states. The pro-abortion groups point to President Donald Trump’s promise to appoint pro-life justices to the U.S. Supreme Court as the reason for the legislation. They fear that if Trump appoints several justices to the high court, they could overturn the four-decade old abortion decision.
Reuters reports more about the Delaware bill:
Momentum for the bill grew in April when a coalition of state religious leaders including Jewish, Episcopal, Methodist, Presbyterian and Unitarian clergy publicly declared “acceptance” of abortion in a show of support for Planned Parenthood. The state’s Catholic leader, Bishop Francis Malooly of the Diocese of Wilmington, immediately denounced the statement.
In a Facebook post Tuesday, Delaware RTL spokeswoman Moira Sheridan urged pro-life advocates not to give up hope.
“So many people are devastated by tonight’s House vote to pass SB5 …” Sheridan wrote. “Don’t be. Just keep fighting and praying. … Hundreds turned out and hundreds can continue to turn out – at Planned Parenthood clinics in Dover & Wilmington.”
