Virginia’s Proposed Abortion Amendment Removes Safeguards for Women

Virginia’s Proposed Abortion Amendment Removes Safeguards for Women By Susan Cyre The Democratic majority in the Virginia Legislature passed a Constitutional Amendment that is among the most radical not only in the US but also in the world. Of the 193 countries in the United Nations, the United States is one of only eight that allow abortion on demand with no gestational limit. The Constitutional Amendment, before Virginia voters, will join those 8 countries, including China and Vietnam, by codifying abortion on demand as a “fundamental right” without a gestational limit and with few safeguards. The final step to add this radical amendment to the VA Constitution is for voters to approve it in November. Virginia’s current law limits abortion after the 26th week unless 3 physicians concur that continuing 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.” This Constitutional Amendment would replace that statute, allowing abortion up to birth with only the approval of a single doctor, and that doctor may be the abortionist who profits from the procedure. Furthermore, the amendment establishes that the “right to reproductive freedom shall not be, directly or indirectly, denied, burdened, or infringed upon…”[italics added]. This effectively replaces Code 16.1-241, which requires doctors to obtain parental consent for underage girls seeking an abortion. Thus, underage girls can be coerced by sex traffickers, pedophiles, incest abusers, and older boyfriends into having an abortion without parental notification or permission. These abusers of underage girls will not fear prosecution because the amendment provides that “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….” This legal protection from prosecution also extends to a doctor or midwife who performs an abortion on an underage girl without parental knowledge or consent. In addition, the amendment eliminates the possibility of lawsuits against a midwife or doctor who performs the abortion and causes the woman’s death or serious injury. Will this “fundamental right” that cannot be “directly or indirectly denied, burdened, or infringed upon” make doctors or midwives who refuse to perform an abortion on conscience grounds be in violation of the law and subject to penalties? Currently, second- and third-trimester abortions must be performed by a doctor in a hospital. Will courts strike that down as a “burden”? Will courts and the legislature subsequently mandate that the state pay for abortions because a lack of funds is construed as a “burden” that infringes on the fundamental right to an abortion? The current Virginia statute, 18.2-74, states that “Measures for life support for the product of such abortion or miscarriage must be available and utilized if there is any clearly visible evidence of viability.” The amendment provides no such protection for the child. Abortion is already legal in Virginia up through the 9th month, with safeguards for women and underage girls and protections for the viable child. Virginians should vote “No” on this radical amendment, which removes safeguards for underage girls, women, doctors, and the child.