Just after Virginia Democrats used their state Senate majority to block multiple pro-life bills, Virginians filled the streets of their capital city last week in the first statewide pro-life march since the overturning of Roe v. Wade.
This Monday and Tuesday, Virginia lawmakers will vote on a handful of life bills. Feb. 7 marks “crossover day,” with each house concluding action on legislation aside from budget bills.
On Feb. 6, the Senate will vote on SJ 255, a “Right to Abortion Amendment” that would make abortion a “fundamental right” in the commonwealth. This state constitutional amendment would allow abortion to be performed until birth and require taxpayers to pay for it. The amendment would be codified into law if it passes both chambers for two consecutive years and then passes a statewide ballot referendum. It would effectively nullify any pro-life laws in the state, including those Republicans are trying to pass this session.
The Born Alive Abortion Survivor bill, sponsored by Del. Nick Freitas, R-Culpeper, would require every health care provider performing an abortion to provide the same level of care to an infant who survives the procedure as one born at a similar gestational age. Del. Karen Greenhalgh, R-Virginia Beach, is sponsoring a “right to know” act, which would impose civil and criminal penalties on any abortion provider who does not obtain informed written consent from a woman prior to the procedure.
Del. Tara Durant, R-Fredricksburg, introduced House Bill 2476 to improve information access to pregnancy centers in Virginia. The bill would also provide women free online access to support services after their children are born.
The Virginia Society for Human Life (VSHL) estimated several thousand citizens gathered at the bell tower in Capitol Square on Feb. 1 to hear the testimonies of post-abortive women, pro-life leaders, bishops from both of Virginia’s Catholic dioceses, VSHL President Olivia Gans Turner, and state Attorney General Jason Miyares. Pro-life supporters, led by Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin, then walked the streets surrounding Capitol Hill.
The traditional show of support for life followed the state’s second annual “Defending Life Day,” a morning of advocacy at the Virginia General Assembly where more than 500 pro-life constituents asked their legislators to support protective bills for the unborn.
As the first General Assembly of 2023 progresses, advocates for life face an uphill battle. State Sen. Louise Lucas, D-Portsmouth, leading a majority of anti-life senators as Senate president pro tempore, has pledged to block pro-life legislation. In a press conference following a series of life legislation votes on Jan. 26, Lucas claimed that as long as Democrats maintained a state Senate majority, bills that protect life from the earliest stages would “never pass.”
On Jan. 26 the Senate Education and Health Committee, chaired by Lucas, killed two bills to protect the lives of unborn children. The governor’s Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act would protect unborn babies after 15 weeks, when they are proven to be capable of feeling the pain of an abortion. Sponsored by Sen. Steve Newman, R-Bedford, in the Senate and Del. Kathy Byron, R-Lynchburg, in the House, the bill was effectively tabled in a 10-5 vote.
Likewise, Sen. T. Travis Hackworth’s, R-Tazewell County, bill SB 1284, protecting life starting at conception, was indefinitely tabled. Both bills included exceptions for maternal medical care, or when a pregnancy was caused by rape or incest. Sen. Siobhan Dunnavant, R-Henrico, joined Democrats in voting against two pro-life bills while sponsoring no abortion past “viability” legislation.
There have also been wins. On Jan. 26, a Senate committee voted down an assisted suicide bill, and Youngkin has committed to signing any pro-life legislation that passes the Assembly.
“It is sad that so many in the General Assembly are so coldhearted that they wouldn’t even support a reasonable bill from the Governor that could have protected pre-born babies who can feel pain in the womb,” Gans-Turner told supporters in a press release. “Recent polls suggest that they are out of step with most Virginians who support the law that the Senate killed last week.”
In his rally remarks, Miyares pledged to protect pregnancy resource centers in the state, as violence against these pro-woman clinics increases. He also emphasized that, under his leadership, no woman involved in an abortion would be punished for participating in ending her child’s life. He said the mother is the second victim in every abortion after the unborn child.
