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'The Infant Would Be Kept Comfortable': Is Virginia's Governor Pro-Infanticide?

  • Kayla Koslosky

    Kayla Koslosky has been the Editor of ChristianHeadlines.com since 2018. She has B.A. degrees in English and History and previously wrote for and was the managing editor of the Yellow Jacket …

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  • Updated Feb 01, 2019

Virginia’s Governor Ralph Northam (D) defended a proposed abortion bill in Virginia that allows a pregnant woman to abort her child up until the moment of birth by taking it a step further. 

As Christian Headlines reported, Fairfax, Virginia Delegate Kathy Tran proposed an abortion bill this week that would allow a woman to have an abortion while showing physical signs of labor if one doctor certified that her mental or physical health was at risk. In an interview with WTOP, Northam, who is a pediatric neurologist, said regarding a bill, “This is why decisions such as this should be made by providers, physicians, and the mothers and fathers that are involved. When we talk about third-trimester abortions, these are done with the consent of obviously the mother, with the consent of the physicians — more than one physician, by the way — and it's done in cases where there may be severe deformities, there may be a fetus that's non-viable."

"In this particular example, if a mother is in labor, I can tell you exactly what would happen," he continued. "The infant would be delivered. The infant would be kept comfortable. The infant would be resuscitated if that's what the mother and the family desired, and then a discussion would ensue between the physicians and the mother."

Following this statement, many people – both liberal and conservative – spoke out against the Governor’s remarks.

According to Town Hall, Senator Ben Sasse (R-NE) released a statement saying that the governor’s remarks were “morally repugnant.” The Nebraska Senator said, “This is morally repugnant. In just a few years pro-abortion zealots went from ‘safe, legal, and rare’ to ‘keep the newborns comfortable while the doctor debates infanticide.’ I don’t care what party you’re from — if you can’t say that it’s wrong to leave babies to die after birth, get the h**l out of public office.”

Executive Editor of the Washington Examiner Seth Mandel made a statement on Twitter saying, “I expected this description to be an exaggeration but no, it's actually even worse. My god, the inhumanity on display here is hard to fathom. The baby would be delivered and kept comfortable while its parents debated whether or not to execute it. What have we become.”

Delegate Dawn Adams (D-Richmond), who initially co-sponsored the legislation that brought about this controversial interview, released an apology statement on Wednesday for supporting the bill. The Richmond-Times Dispatch reports she wrote, “I made a mistake, and all I know to do is to admit it, tell the truth, and let the chips fall where they may.”

“By now you have heard about the abortion bill, or seen the video. I vaguely remember signing on to this, and I did this in solidarity with my colleague and as a symbolic gesture for a woman’s right to choose,” she added

“I thought this bill sought to solely reverse the onerous additions to the code made in 2012 by HB462. While it did, it sought to do much more.”

Adams, a nurse practitioner, then touched on the question House Majority Leader Todd Gilbert (R-Shenandoah) asked Tran in the viral video that showed the Northern Virginia delegate affirm that her bill would allow for a doctor to perform an abortion even if a mother is in labor. Adams said this scenario would be described as partial birth infanticide and it “remains a crime and would not be something any sane licensed physician would perform. The code is very specific and clear about what this means and it is different from an abortion, even late term.”

The Governor’s office has since released a statement claiming that his words were taken out of context and that he does not support infanticide. The statement reads, “No woman seeks a third-trimester abortion except in the case of tragic or difficult circumstances, such as a nonviable pregnancy or in the event of severe fetal abnormalities.”

It continues, “The governor’s comments were limited to the actions physicians take in the event a woman in those circumstances went into labor.”

“Virginia law currently prohibits third-trimester abortions, excepted in the extreme circumstances in which a woman’s life or health is at risk and that risk is certified by three physicians,” the statement concluded.

According to the Richmond Times-Dispatch, the bill proposed by Delegate Tran in January has been defeated.

Photo courtesy: Kelly Sikkema/Unsplash

Video courtesy: Hannah Cortez