Lawmakers are busy preparing legislation to be considered next January, including a proposal to enshrine the “right” to an abortion in the Virginia state constitution.
Delegate Charniele Herring, a Democrat serving as the House’s new majority leader, introduced the bill that seeks to add the following text to the constitution via an amendment:
This right to make and effectuate one’s own decisions about all matters related to one’s pregnancy shall not be denied, burdened, or infringed upon, unless justified by a compelling state interest and achieved by the least restrictive means that do not infringe an individual’s autonomous decision-making.
A state interest is compelling only when it is to ensure the protection of the health of an individual seeking care, consistent with accepted clinical standards of practice and evidence-based medicine. The Commonwealth shall not discriminate in the protection or enforcement of this fundamental right.
The Virginia Society For Human Life wasted no time calling attention to the matter:
The group said that the legislation would mean the following for the Commonwealth.
“This would mean the removal of the parental consent law and partial-birth infanticide law as well as ultimately requiring Virginia taxpayers to fund all abortions under Medicaid programs.
Perhaps the most shocking of all will be that unlimited abortion would become legal through all nine months–up until birth–as it has in New York, Vermont, and California.
“It is obvious that the new Democrat majority in Richmond has no regard for the unborn children who will be killed because of this amendment. This amendment would interpret any commonsense protective regulation, including safety rules about who may perform an abortion, as burdensome,” said Olivia Gans Turner, VSHL president.
“So, we must ask ourselves, are the Democrats more concerned about protecting the abortion business in Virginia that supported their campaigns, or the women and girls who may seek abortions here?” said Turner. “They certainly don’t intend to protect their babies.”
A complimentary bill has also been filed in the Virginia Senate by Senator Jennifer Boysko.