Lawmakers in the Virginia Senate gave approval this week to a constitutional amendment that would allow for preborn children to be killed with no gestational restrictions.
The amendment passed in a party line vote of 21-19. Though abortion is already legal all the way through 26 weeks six days in the state — and all the way to birth if three doctors determine the mother’s life or health is at risk — the amendment would solidify that extreme stance, making it harder to undo legislatively while further loosening the third-trimester exceptions and providing no safeguards to protect women and young girls.
As written, the amendment states:
That every individual has the fundamental right to reproductive freedom, including the ability to make and carry out decisions relating to one’s own prenatal care, childbirth, postpartum care, contraception, abortion care, miscarriage management, and fertility care.
It goes on to further allow abortions all the way to birth, while reducing the number of physicians needed to sign off on a third-trimester (post-viability) abortion — from three to just one (emphases added):
Notwithstanding the above, the Commonwealth may regulate the provision of abortion care in the third trimester, provided that in no circumstance shall the Commonwealth prohibit an abortion (i) that in the professional judgment of a physician is medically indicated to protect the life or physical or mental health of the pregnant individual or (ii) when in the professional judgment of a physician the fetus is not viable.
The “mental health” exception has been broadly used to justify abortion for nearly any reason. And in many cases, the physician who determines that the abortion is “necessary” is the actual abortionist who stands to profit from the procedure.
READ: Reports from just five states reveal over 100 babies born alive during abortions in recent years
More troubling language is found further in the amendment, which states that women won’t be prosecuted for “pregnancy outcomes.” Legal experts have warned that this language is a legal loophole that could technically allow infanticide — if a baby is left to die without any medical care after a botched abortion, some could assert that this is simply a “pregnancy outcome”:
The Commonwealth shall not penalize, prosecute, or otherwise take adverse action against an individual based on such individual’s own exercise of this fundamental right or such individual’s own actual, potential, perceived, or alleged pregnancy outcomes, including miscarriage, stillbirth, or abortion. The Commonwealth shall not penalize, prosecute, or otherwise take adverse action against any individual for aiding or assisting another individual in exercising such other individual’s right to reproductive freedom with such other individual’s voluntary consent.
Before its passage, Republican Senator Emily Jordan offered a proposal that would ensure babies born alive after an abortion would receive medical care — a proposal that ultimately failed, because Senate Democrats claimed it to be unnecessary.
Republicans also blasted the fact that the amendment has no protections for minors, allowing them the ability to receive an abortion without parental consent.
“We are no longer going to respect parental authority and shred the very fabric of us as a mother, as a father,” Sen. Tara Durant said. “And to say strangers will make that decision that can threaten your child’s life — if anything, we should never forget this moment.”
“We had an opportunity yesterday to stand up for parents and families … to give families the opportunity to be involved in this process. We had the opportunity yesterday to stand up to protect babies who were born alive — born alive,” Sen. Mark D. Obenshain lamented Tuesday. “I cannot fathom that we could not agree upon that.”
Pro-life groups are warning that the amendment is extreme because it removes all protections meant to benefit both women and their preborn children.
Olivia Gans Turner, President of Virginia Society for Human Life, said the Amendment “will actually remove all restrictions of any kind, any protective or rational legislation that restricts where abortions can be performed, or who has the authority to perform an abortion or distribute chemical abortion drugs would be removed.”
Legislatively, there is still time before this amendment could become law, as lawmakers must pass proposed amendments twice in a two-year period with an intervening election between the two votes. If it passes both years, the amendment will then go to a public vote.
But the mere fact that such an amendment exists — allowing for abortion up to birth, possible allowance of infanticide, and refusing to require medical care for infants who survive abortions — should shock anyone with any semblance of conscience. Preborn human beings are not property to be destroyed at will.
Tell President Trump, RFK, Jr., Elon, and Vivek:
Stop killing America’s future. Defund Planned Parenthood NOW!
