The Virginia House defeated a radical pro-abortion bill late last week that could have paved the way to legalized abortions up to birth.
WRIC reports pro-abortion Democrats attempted to force a vote on the abortion bill through a proposed rule change, but the Republican-majority House rejected their proposal Thursday in a 50-45 vote.
“Let us be honest and direct about exactly what this proposed amendment to our constitution would do,” state Del. Kathy Byron, R-Bedford, said prior to the vote. “It would remove all restrictions on abortion, including the parental notification requirement and prohibitions on taxpayer-funded abortions.”
State Del. Marcus Simon, D-Fairfax, introduced the rule change earlier this month to require a vote on the bill, which would have amended the Virginia Constitution to create a “right” to abort unborn babies, according to the report.
“Voters need to know where we stand on this issue because we have elections coming up in November,” Simon told lawmakers. “They deserve to see us vote, see how we vote, see what we think on this issue. We need to have this vote so they can see and they can make up their minds for themselves when November comes.”
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Described as an “extreme right-to-abortion amendment” by pro-life leaders, the bill would create a “right to make and effectuate one’s own decisions about all matters related to one’s pregnancy” in the state.
According to the Virginia Society for Human Life, the amendment would allow:
- Abortion-on-Demand for any reason, throughout all nine months of pregnancy, and paid for with taxpayer dollars.
- No restrictions on Partial-Birth Abortions or after unborn children feel pain.
- No restrictions on abortions through all nine months of pregnancy right up to birth.
- No protecting teenage girls and their unborn babies from unscrupulous abortionists.
- No new pro-life laws in Virginia. NONE! EVER!
Abortions are legal for any reason up to viability in Virginia, and about 16,000 unborn babies are aborted there every year.
Earlier this year, Gov. Glenn Youngkin and Republican leaders introduced the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act to ban abortions after 15 weeks. Polls show strong public support for such legislation, but Democrat lawmakers killed the bill in January.
The Virginia Legislature is divided, with Republicans controlling the House of Delegates and Democrats controlling the Senate.
