by Shaun Kenney
This November in Ohio, a referendum measure will be on the ballot that will not only enshrine abortion as a state constitutional right — the measure will eliminate parental notification and parental consent on any and all decisions about sexuality and gender in language so broad that it encompasses not just abortion but transgenderism as a question of “reproductive rights” — and it is coming to Virginia.
The Ohio referendum is sponsored not only by Planned Parenthood and the ACLU, but also by an organization called URGE, and is backed by the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) — two groups whose interest in pushing transgenderism is upfront and clear.
Already, several Virginia Democrats running for public office have been open about their support for these referenda, many of which will be on the ballot in 2024 in the hopes that they will boost Democratic hopes in the presidential elections.
The good news in Virginia is that our reticence about referenda is a long-standing practice designed to allow cooler heads to prevail. The General Assembly must approve the referenda twice in concurrent sessions in order for such items to be on the ballot.
Yet in over 30 states nationwide, Ohio is proving to be the test case not just for abortion on demand, but a broader effort by Planned Parenthood to apply personal autonomy to something far more broadly defined than abortion.
Should such legislation pass? Imagine a student who, after watching too much TikTok, decides they want to undergo gender reassignment surgery, or be pressured to have an abortion. Under the language of the Ohio amendment, parents would not only not have the right to either be notified much less consent to such an act, but parents would be legally prohibited from interfering in such cases — interposing government bureaucrats between parents and their own children.
Just in case anyone is confused about where Virginia Democrats really stand on this question, let’s ask former Governor Ralph Northam:
If a mother is in labor, I can tell you exactly what would happen. 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.
If you don’t believe Ralph Northam, then why not ask those who work for the abortion industry directly — specifically, Delegate Kathy Tran (D-Fairfax).
When Todd Gilbert (R-Shenandoah) questioned Tran on the consequences of her Repeal Act — HR2491 — which specifically repealed restrictions on third trimester abortions — Tran was at first cautious (ashamed?) to state facts, but after a few minutes of questioning, Tran got right down to brass tacks about her intentions behind the bill:
Under questioning from a House subcommittee, Tran said third trimester abortions would face substantially fewer restrictions.
“How late in the third trimester could a physician perform an abortion if he indicated it would impair the mental health of the woman,” asked subcommittee chairman Todd Gilbert (R-Shenandoah).
“Through the third trimester,” responded Tran. “The third trimester goes all the way up to forty weeks.”
Tran also clarified that abortion procedures would be allowed up until the end of a woman’s pregnancy.
“I don’t think we have a limit in the bill,” added Tran.
Tran’s testimony is precisely the meat of the matter — the very thing Virginia Democrats don’t want to run upon, but which Planned Parenthood is forcing them to defend.
Or at least, say in November what they say in January.
Of course, the loyal opposition at Blue Virginia is trying to memory hole all of this as if Virginia Democrats never supported abortion up to the point of birth — and in Northam’s case, possibly beyond:
So again, these lies aren’t just being pushed by a lunatic fringe on the far right, but by leading Republicans from Trump on down…and including Youngkin, Sears, etc. here in Virginia. It’s truly disgusting, and should be rejected by every voter in every election.
There’s a good reason why they are trying to push back against Planned Parenthood’s desired endgame in Virginia, precisely because abortion on demand isn’t supported by most Americans by a mile — it’s barbaric.
Gallup shows that 64% of Americans support some form of restrictions on abortion, with only 34% supporting abortion on demand. When asked where the line ought to be drawn — 6 weeks? 15 weeks? 24 weeks? — most Americans draw that line at the first trimester or just about 12-15 weeks:
When asked about the legality of abortion at different stages of pregnancy, about two-thirds of Americans say it should be legal in the first trimester (69%), while support drops to 37% for the second trimester and 22% for the third. Majorities oppose abortion being legal in the second (55%) and third (70%) trimesters.
Yet when pressed to put a number on where they would accept restrictions? Virginia Democrats cannot give an answer beneath 40 weeks.
Why?
Because Planned Parenthood and the abortion lobby won’t let them accept any restrictions on abortion. Not even a little bit.
Which means that Planned Parenthood doesn’t even accept the present 28-week open season on babies currently in place in Virginia.
Nor do they accept European-style restrictions such as a first trimester open season on babies (no bag limit).
Nor will they tolerate parental consent. Nor do they tolerate parental notification. They want it all.
Virginia Democrats want abortion on demand, and not just abortion on demand, but a repeal of parental notification and parental consent in all matters regarding reproductive freedom — including transgender reassignment surgeries for minors — because that is precisely what they are backing in Ohio. This is not a secret; this is not even disputed seriously by those reading what the Ohio referendum says (pace Politifact whose sole task is to parrot rather than perceive).
This is what they want. They aren’t hiding the football in Richmond, just back home where such extremism — consistent though it is — is far more politically unpopular.
Notice that Virginia Democrats are doing everything in their power to make folks forget about the agenda they wanted while they were in power?
Look no further than State Senator Monty Mason out towards Williamsburg. One might think that by the way he is running his campaign that he is the conservative in that race.
Not that a soul is fooled by this.
The heavy-handedness in Loudoun and Fairfax Counties, the open push for transgenderism, the interposition of government between parents and children, the efforts to Defund The Police (TM), the violence and lawlessness of the “mostly peaceful protests” during 2020 — none of this has been forgotten by suburban parents and independent voters.
If 2017 was they year of the suburban mom, 2023 is shaping up to be the year of the suburban dad — just ask around.
Folks are fed up.
Give Planned Parenthood this much, though. At least they are being honest about where they are coming from and what they want. Virginia Democrats are doing all they can to argue how most abortions don’t even occur after 15 weeks. When pro-life groups ask if the line can be drawn there, Virginia Democrats recoil in horror. So much for safe, legal, and rare….
Longtime readers of mine will know that when it comes to incrementalist legislation and half-measures, I am a staunch opponent — not merely because I am Catholic, but because I believe that the foundation of any just and moral society consists of its willingness to defend the most basic and natural of human rights: the basic and fundamental right to exist.
For myself, even Virginia Republicans are soft on abortion. I’ve been critical of Governor Youngkin for being too soft on this question.
Pro-lifers who truly believe in the dignity of human life have a great deal of work to do in the public square convincing others that every human life — not just in law, not just by policy — deserves the basic right to exist. Our biopolitics, to borrow a term from the late philosopher Michel Foucault, has to take precedence over power and profit before we can get there in any meaningful way.
Yet upon this basic right to exist is predicated every other right — yes, even the right to personal autonomy. Unless we are willing to defend and uphold the dignity of each and every human person from their earliest and most defenseless moments to their last and arguably most defenseless moments, we are not by definition good.
My friends to the left will point to a whole host of public functions such as health care, education, academia, living wages, and so forth and ask where pro-lifers are in providing these things. We answer with an ocean of pregnancy resource centers, food banks, job placement and training facilities, private and parochial schooling, scholarships, and family networks that provide this care right now. Just because it isn’t provided by government doesn’t mean that it isn’t provided at all.
Unless we defend the basic right to exist, everything else boils down to the adjudication of power for its own sake. Life no longer remains something sacred, but rather is reduced to something useful — and too often is discarded when life becomes an inconvenience, whether it is abortion or education or health care up to euthanizing the elderly and poor.
I don’t begrudge Planned Parenthood one iota for being honest about what they intend and hope to achieve through their state amendments. If the right of personal autonomy is the highest good, then their position is internally consistent — even if misplaced because we ourselves are not ends unto ourselves.
Rather, one should begrudge Virginia Democrats for talking one way in front of their donors and another way to the public.
If they lack the fire of their own conviction and are willing to lie to Virginians about what they intend on matters of life and death, what else are they willing to lie to us about in the pursuit of raw power and ideological fanaticism? Who else are they willing to harm for an abstraction? What other impositions will Virginians be asked to tolerate in the name of diversity and inclusion, which has every intention of knuckling down conservatives in the name of secular gods?
If Virginia Democrats intend to build social justice on a pile of dead babies, best of luck campaigning on it. They should not expect to get away with lying about it in a post-Northam era — and Republicans should take every moment to remind Virginians what parts of their soul they are willing to cash out for a few much-needed campaign solicitations.
Republished with permission from The Republican Standard.
Shaun Kenney is the Senior Editor for The Republican Standard.
