Virginia Democrats Blocked From Enshrining Partial-Birth Abortion

House Republicans in Virginia steamrolled a charge by Democrats to adjust rules and place an amendment on the ballot to enshrine abortion protections in the state constitution.

Democrats proposed the “Right to Abortion” Amendment earlier this year and then tried to resurrect it. However, the necessary rule change was blocked by GOP delegates. 

Abortion would have achieved constitutional status and abortionists the full protection of the state to ply their trade. 

Not only would abortion up until and during birth have been legalized, but Virginia taxpayers would pay for the procedures. And they would be prohibited from passing future protections to safeguard the unborn.

The amendment coyly never mentions abortion directly, but proclaims that every “individual” — not woman — has a “fundamental right to reproductive freedom.”

The amendment contained some insidious provisions. It would reportedly legalize the killing and extracting of a full-term baby from the womb as well as partial-birth abortions and injection of poisonous chemicals.

Horrifically, the measure provided abortionists with a sweeping license to find other methods of ending the baby’s life. A chilling category for ending young lives was labeled “Method not listed,” which would open the door for unthinkable possibilities. 

The year has been a decidedly mixed bag for pro-lifers in Virginia. The state Senate defeated multiple bills to protect unborn children that were championed by Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin.

One of the key provisions shot down by the left was the proposed 15-week ban on abortion that included exceptions.

As for the defeated amendment, Democrats blasted Republican opposition as evidence of wanting to “control” women’s bodies and invade the “bedroom.”

However, Republican Del. Kathy Byron of Bedford said the left engaged in manipulation and “misleading” tactics to cloak how extreme the amendment was. She earlier noted that they refused to use the term “baby,” and “infant, child, and mother haven’t received much notice either.”

Further, Byron called the measure “violently more extreme than Roe, which at least acknowledged the child was entitled to protections in the third trimester of pregnancy.”

The doomed effort failed to clear the House Courts of Justice Committee in February, but abortion supporters pushed for a rule change to resuscitate the amendment. That time as well, however, the GOP triumphed and blocked the procedural manipulation.