Virginia’s New Radical Pro-Abortion Legislative Majority Proposes Alarming New Abortion Laws and a Constitutional Amendment

Virginia’s new radical pro-abortion legislative majority wasted no time in attempting to enact their Planned Parenthood sponsored agenda, proposing an amendment to codify abortion in Virginia’s Constitution. Not only that, but they are proposing a slew of bills designed to eliminate key pro-life laws including parental consent and ultra sound requirements.

The ACLJ recently filed a Virginia Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) records demand to expose the abortion lobby’s lie that abortion is safe and should be a constitutionally protected right.

The abortion machine is going state by state trying to tear up any remnants of any pro-life laws. Planned Parenthood alone has a multi-billion-dollar empire. That is what we are going up against.

After the disgusting New York live-birth abortion law passed in 2019, which legalized abortion up to the moment of birth, some states like Virginia are trying to take it even further.

Pro-abortion legislators in Virginia are trying to insert abortion as a “right” in their state Constitution. The proposed pro-abortion amendment, sponsored by new Senate Majority Leader Dick Saslaw to the Virginia Constitution reads:

“That an individual's right to personal reproductive autonomy is central to the enjoyment of life and liberty and shall not be denied or infringed upon unless justified by a compelling interest of the Commonwealth and achieved by the least restrictive means.”

As we have previously explained:

[T]he abortion distortion would have the public believe this is about women’s health and rights and completely disregards the personal autonomy of the life that is being unceremoniously snuffed out.

Make no mistake, this amendment, if enshrined in the Constitution of Virginia, would be used to undercut nearly every pro-life law in the Commonwealth and to undermine proposed pro-life legislation for generations to come.

In addition, there are a slew of new bills popping up in the VA Legislature trying to expand access and lessen restrictions to abortion:

• One such bill expands who is allowed to perform an abortion in the 1st trimester, including nurses and midwives.
• One Senate bill seeks to remove the ultrasound requirement for a woman seeking to get abortion.
• Another bill even proposes to go even further, again sponsored by Senate Majority Leader Dick Saslaw, eliminating both the ultrasound requirement and removing the parental consent requirement for minors as well.

In my book, The Next Red Wave, we specifically warned that this could happen in Virginia if a pro-abortion majority was elected in the fall of 2019 – which is what happened. Both the House of Delegates and the State Senate held razor-thin conservative majorities, and both were narrowly lost during the 2019 election. We warned that laws like the “Repeal Act”, which was supported by Governor Northam (while also seemingly promoting infanticide), would aim to strip out any restrictions on abortion.

In the past, VA had some of the most conservative approaches to restrictions on abortions.

The new legislature, with a ten vote majority in the House of Delegates and a two vote majority in the State Senate, is trying to turn Virginia into a New York or California.

The good news, unlike NY, is that we still have time to stop this from passing!

We at the ACLJ have submitted critical records demands under Virginia FOIA to expose who is behind this proposed legislation. Our FOIA asks for all records pertaining to the proposed amendment from its early inception. We are fighting these expansive abortion bills popping up all over the country.

Abortion should never be considered a “right” under any constitution. Life is sacred and the life of a child should always be protected. At the ACLJ, will continue to mobilize all around the country to stem the rising tide of these horrific abortion laws.

Sign the petition and stand with the ACLJ as we fight for the unborn.

UPDATE 1.23.2020: The Virginia State Senate Privileges and Elections Committee met on Tuesday and continued the proposed pro-abortion amendment, sponsored by new Senate Majority Leader Dick Saslaw to the Virginia Constitution to the 2021 session over a procedural matter.

That amendment will likely be considered in both the 2021 and 2022 sessions of Virginia’s General Assembly, and given Virginia’s new radical pro-abortion majority, will head to a statewide referendum vote after that. That said, while this constitutional amendment is delayed – not defeated – this delay is a victory in and of itself allowing opponents more time to make the case to defend life, not death.

The Virginia State Senate Education & Health Committee met today, first voting to incorporate Senator Saslaw’s bill and Senator Locke’s bill into Senator McClellan’s bill.  

Senator Saslaw’s bill proposed eliminating both the ultrasound requirement and removing the parental consent requirement for minors as well, while Senator Locke’s bill removed the ultrasound requirement.

Senator McClellan’s bill had a lot in common with the aforementioned bills so they combined them. The combined bills expand who can perform abortions – including nurses – and where they can be performed as well as eliminating the ultrasound and parental consent requirements. That new combined bill passed out of the Senate Education and Health Committee by a Party line vote of 9-6.