In Focus delivers deeper coverage of the political, cultural, and ideological issues shaping America.
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Focus → deliver → America
Published daily by senior writers and experts, these in-depth pieces go beyond the headlines to give readers the full picture.
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pieces → publish → picture
You can find our full list of In Focus pieces here.
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You → find → pieces
Abortion is legal in almost all cases in Virginia, but that’s not good enough for the Democrats.
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that → ’ → Democrats
They want to enshrine abortion as a constitutional right, and they want to strip nearly all abortion regulations for all nine months of pregnancy.
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they → want → pregnancy
Early voting has begun in Virginia, and voters are deciding on three proposed amendments to the constitution, including one on abortion.
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voters → begin → abortion
In a state where abortion is already legal, it’s tempting to think this vote doesn’t matter much.
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vote → ’ → state
But the abortion advocates clearly don’t think so: Planned Parenthood, the ACLU, and the group formerly known as NARAL have already spent a combined $4 million to pass this measure.
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Parenthood → think → measure
Central to their efforts is misleading the public on what this amendment would do.
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amendment → mislead → what
There’s plenty at stake in this vote, and so it’s worth understanding the proposed amendment in some detail.
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it → ’ → detail
What they have and what they want
Already, abortion is almost totally unrestricted under current Virginia law.
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abortion → want → law
Virginia state code explicitly states that abortion is legal “prior to the third trimester of pregnancy.”
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abortion → state → pregnancy
Premature babies can survive outside the womb starting at 22 weeks.
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babies → survive → weeks
More than 85% of babies survive being born at 26 weeks of gestation.
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% → survive → gestation
In Virginia, that baby can be aborted for any reason, as could a baby at 27 weeks of gestation.
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baby → abort → gestation
Only at 28 weeks gestation does Virginia law place any meaningful restrictions on abortion, and those restrictions have exceptions.
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restrictions → place → exceptions
Keep in mind that third-trimester abortions are less than 1% of all abortions, according to abortion advocates.
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abortions → keep → advocates
Third-trimester abortion — that is, from week 28 up until the moment before birth — is legal in Virginia if “the physician and two consulting physicians certify and so enter in the hospital record of the woman, that in their medical opinion, based upon their best clinical judgment, the continuation of 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.
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continuation → consult → woman
”
If that baby is delivered alive, the hospital is required to try to keep the baby alive.
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hospital → deliver → baby
The three-physician requirement doesn’t apply if a doctor believes the abortion is needed to save the mother’s life.
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abortion → apply → life
Also, current Virginia law requires a parent to consent when a minor seeks an abortion, unless a court orders that seeking such consent would endanger the pregnant girl.
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seeking → require → girl
Finally, Virginia imposes health and safety regulations on abortionists similar to those imposed on most medical procedures.
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Virginia → impose → procedures
As a rule, Democrats do not accept any restrictions on abortion at any stage of pregnancy.
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Democrats → accept → pregnancy
In recent elections, reporters have begun asking Democratic presidential, Senate, and congressional candidates where they would draw the line on abortion, and uniformly, the Democrats have refused to even allow for a line.
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Democrats → begin → line
Virginia Democrats in particular have espoused abortion extremism going back to the last decade.
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Democrats → espouse → decade
In 2019, Democratic state delegate Kathy Tran proposed a bill substantially similar to this proposed Amendment.
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Tran → propose → Amendment
When asked if her bill would legalize abortion when the mother was “about to give birth,” she said yes.
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she → ask → birth
She confirmed she was trying to legalize abortion, “all the way up to 40 weeks.”
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she → confirm → abortion
Defending post-viability abortion, Democratic Gov. Ralph Northam, around that same time, explained on a radio show what he would prescribe if a baby survived an attempted abortion in the third trimester.
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baby → defend → trimester
“If a mother is in labor, I can tell you exactly what would happen,” Northam said on a radio show.
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Northam → tell → show
“The infant would be delivered.
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infant → deliver → ?
The infant would be kept comfortable.
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infant → keep → ?
The infant would be resuscitated if that’s what the mother and the family desired, and then a discussion would ensue between the physicians and the mother.”
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discussion → resuscitate → physicians
The amendment
The proposed amendment declares 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.”
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individual → propose → care
In other words, abortion and these other aspects of reproduction would become “fundamental rights.”
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abortion → become → reproduction
The amendment continues that these rights “shall not be, directly or indirectly, denied, burdened, or infringed upon unless justified by a compelling state interest achieved by the least restrictive means.”
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rights → continue → means
The proposed amendment then offers a narrow definition of “compelling interest.”
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amendment → propose → interest
“For the purposes of this section, a state interest is compelling only if it is for the limited purpose of maintaining or improving the health of an individual seeking care, consistent with accepted clinical standards of care and evidence-based medicine, and does not infringe on that individual’s autonomous decision making.”
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it → maintain → making
That is, the constitution would instruct courts to totally disregard the interest of the unborn child (even a viable unborn child), the child’s father, a young mother’s parents, or human decency.
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constitution → instruct → child
Also, this passage states that the state may not regulate even third-trimester abortion in any manner that “infringe[s] on” the expectant mother’s “autonomous decision making.”
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that → state → making
…and 21 more, not listed.
The Aporia
