A Virginia Democrat admitted Wednesday that she did not read a pro-abortion bill that would have legalized abortion up to the point when a woman is in labor before she co-sponsored it.
State Del. Dawn Adams apologized to her constituents in a letter Wednesday, the Richmond Times-Dispatch reports. While Adams said she supports legalized abortion, she did not realize the full extent of the bill and co-sponsoring it was a “mistake.”
“I made a mistake, and all I know to do is to admit it, tell the truth, and let the chips fall where they may,” she wrote, according to the Free Beacon. “If you follow my newsletter or have written to me to ask about my votes, you know that I do my best to read and research every bill I vote on. But I did not read a bill I agreed to co-patron and that wasn’t smart or typical. I will work harder and be better for it.”
The bill was defeated in committee, but it drew wide-spread horror after its sponsor, Del. Kathy Tran, D-Fairfax, admitted that it would allow abortions through all nine months of pregnancy, including while a mother is in labor and there is no physical threat to her health.
Here’s more from the Free Beacon:
Adams said she only signed onto it because she believed it would repeal “onerous” restrictions passed by Republicans in 2012. She also said she continued to be pro-choice.
“I am sorry that I did not exercise due diligence before this explosion of attention,” she wrote.
The bill drew even more controversy on Wednesday when Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam (D.) spoke in a radio interview of a scenario where an infant could be delivered and then physicians and the mother would have a “discussion,” suggesting it could be euthanized after being born alive. …
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After outrage erupted over his remarks, with some observers saying Northam was describing murder, spokeswoman Ofirah Yheskel said in a statement his words had been twisted.
The bill would have repealed most abortion restrictions in Virginia and allowed unborn babies to be aborted for any mental or physical health reason, even through the third trimester.
It would have repealed language in the current law allowing third-trimester abortions only when the pregnancy “is likely to result in the death of the woman or substantially and irremediably impair the mental or physical health of the woman.” The bill would have taken out “substantially and irremediably,” thereby allowing abortions for any loosely defined “health” reason.
Additionally, second- and third-trimester abortions would not have to be performed in a hospital, and ultrasounds would not be required as part of a woman’s informed consent. The bill also would have repealed a requirement that two physicians certify that a third-trimester abortion is necessary to protect the woman’s life or health.
“For women seeking reproductive care, the additional costs and obstacles imposed by existing regulation could potentially include unpaid time off from work, hospital fees and other emotional distress,” Tran argued in defense of her bill. “These restrictions harm women and have disproportionate effects on low-income women and women of color in Virginia.”
According to the local news, Adams apology is an exception; other Virginia Democrats have not retracted their support of Tran’s abortion bill, despite the outrage. Adams is up for re-election next year.
The Virginia Gazette reports Democrat Gov. Ralph Northam and state Attorney General Mark Herring both supported the pro-abortion bill.
Polls indicate the legislation is radically out of touch with most Americans’ views on abortion. According to a national poll conducted by Marist University, three in four Americans (75 percent) say abortion should be limited to – at most – the first three months of pregnancy. This includes most Republicans (92 percent), Independents (78 percent) and a majority of Democrats (60 percent). It also includes more than six in 10 (61 percent) who identify as “pro-choice” on abortion. A May 2018 Gallup poll found that 53 percent of Americans oppose all or most abortions.
