Today, the Virginia Senate Courts Committee will hear SB 1324, carried by Scott Surovell (D-Mount Vernon), a bill that is essentially the state-level equivalent of the federal FACE Act (but worse), aimed at obstructing pro-life efforts and undermining free speech.
Last week, President Trump pardoned 23 individuals charged by the radical Biden DOJ under the federal FACE Act for peacefully protesting outside of an abortion facility.
Click here to sign up for pro-life news alerts from LifeNews.com
The Left isn’t content with enshrining unlimited abortion by anyone without any safety standards. They are now targeting peaceful protesters and sidewalk counselors who simply want to protect innocent human life. (Note: Today the Senate Privileges and Elections Committee passed HJ 1, a resolution to enshrine abortion in the state constitution, sending it to the full Senate.)
SB 1324 creates severe penalties for individuals who “knowingly obstruct, detain, hinder, impede, block, or delay another person’s entry to or exit from a healthcare facility”—specifically targeting pro-life advocates who peacefully protest outside abortion clinics. Here is what the bill would do:
- Create buffer zones around abortion facilities and make it a crime for anyone to approach another person within eight feet in the public area near an abortion facility without consent. This could criminalize the act of simply offering a brochure or asking to pray with a woman entering a clinic.
- Penalizes people who “delay another person’s entry or exit from a healthcare facility”—even if it’s for mere seconds while trying to speak to a woman and offer her life-affirming alternatives. This is not a narrowly tailored measure but a sweeping effort to suppress any form of opposition to abortion.
- Pro-life advocates who seek to help women in crisis would be criminalized for sharing their faith and offering support, all in the name of protecting the abortion industry.
This bill is part of a concerted effort to stifle efforts to provide oversight of abortion providers and prevent individuals and groups from counseling women away from abortion. Already, the Democrat majority is advancing SB 754 (D-Favola), which could lead to the online sale of dangerous abortion drugs to vulnerable women without proper oversight. They are also advancing SB 1098 (D-Hashmi), which allows for the provision of abortion and sex “changes” by unlicensed individuals and would establish the policy that the provision these services cannot be diminished or chilled by public or private actors.
There is a clear agenda at work: Obliterate all dissent against the evils of abortion and transgender mutilation. SB 1324 represents a clear attack on the ability to peacefully voice opposition to abortion, criminalizing the very act of offering alternatives and support to women visiting these facilities.
Please Urge your Senators to OPPOSE SB 1324, which targets Pro-life Sidewalk Counselors!
LifeNews Note: Victoria Cobb is the president of The Family Foundation, based in Virginia.
