Virginia’s Legislature to Vote on Radical Pro-Abortion Bill

Today, the Virginia legislature will vote on a massive and radical pro-abortion bill that will strip many protections away from women and preborn babies. When it comes to protecting preborn life, it’s another example of how elections have consequences. 

In 2019, the Democrats won control of all areas of government in Virginia and have been pushing the state to adopt progressive legislation. The vote today is for HB 980 and its companion bill SB 733 in the Senate Education and Health committee, which, if passed in the General Assembly, will leave women and preborn babies incredibly vulnerable to the machinations of the abortion industry. 

If you’re a Virginian, you can contact your Senator through the Focus on the Family affiliated The Family Foundation.

The bills would allow nonphysicians to complete abortions, including physician’s assistants, nurse practitioners and even certified nurse midwives. It’s an incredibly risky proposition. Abortion is a complex and rather risky surgical procedure. It is difficult to imagine a midwife, for example being able to perform the process properly without putting a woman’s health in jeopardy. 

Even the abortion pill, which doesn’t require an invasive procedure, is still fraught with potential problems. Complications from the abortion pill include an incomplete abortion, infection, hemorrhaging and other potentially life-threatening complications. Some of these issues would require the medical training and knowledge of a physician to properly treat, not a nurse practitioner, midwife or a physician’s assistant, regardless of how great their training.

This bill would also strip all the procedures and processes away, “including the performance of an ultrasound, required to effect a pregnant person’s informed written consent to the performance of an abortion.”

Ultrasounds are an incredibly important part of the counseling process for women having an abortion. It allows them to see that their child is not just a blob of tissue, but a living being that is growing inside of them. Seeing their child can help a woman make the decision for life, but the Democrat-led Virginia legislature apparently doesn’t want women to have that option.

It also removes the 24-hour waiting period between the ultrasound and the abortion. This, again, lessens the possibility that a woman may change her mind about having an abortion. According to Abby Johnson, Planned Parenthood routinely pressures women into having an abortion after confirming a pregnancy. Instead of presenting women with a variety of options, the goal is to try and get a woman to agree to an abortion before she steps out the door. The abortion business even uses price incentives, like saying that the ultrasound is essentially “free” if a woman has the abortion today. It’s highly manipulative and puts an enormous pressure on a woman who just found out that she’s pregnant and struggling with a variety of emotions.

When the Democrats swept the Virginia government, many were concerned, but few realized how dire the situation would become. Hopefully, Virginians will rise up and stop this dangerous bill from passing. Women deserve protection from the abortion industry, and preborn babies deserve every chance at life.