VA Democrats vote to enshrine radical abortion policy

• By Mary Beth Style, Jan 24, 2025

In 1984, a pregnant teen client told me she thought she couldn’t get pregnant because her boyfriend said, “his fallopian tubes were tied.”  At least in 1984, I didn’t wonder if it was the Fairfax student or Family Life Education (FLE) teacher who got it wrong!

Every Democrat in the General Assembly voted to deny the humanity of unborn babies and biology to enshrine abortion with no guardrails into the Virginia Constitution.  Human Reproduction lessons are still clear: when a man and woman have sex and a human ovum and sperm connect, a separate human being is formed. “Reproduction” has occurred, so it is too late to assert “reproductive rights.”  Now, the issue is whether there is a right to end the life of the new human. The unborn baby is not a tumor that threatens a mother’s body autonomy. Did every Democrat in Richmond “opt-out” of that biology lesson? 

Rather than respond to legitimate concerns about the denial of rights of husbands and parents of underage daughters and the lives of unborn babies, the Democrats repeat talking points: 1. every woman has a right to decide when and with whom to start a family and 2. the damnable lie that women are dying since Roe was overturned because doctors refuse emergency medical care during a miscarriage. FACT CHECK: Emergency care for ectopic pregnancy and miscarriage has been standard medical procedure FOREVER. 

One personal story ironically revealed the truth. A speaker reported that instead of being her mom’s 7th child, she was her 8th because her mother had suffered a miscarriage. She lamented the lie that her mother could not get medical care for a miscarriage if it happened today. She overlooked the truth that her mother considered her dead baby as part of her family.   

Millions of women who have abortions, unaware they will have a natural lifelong bond with their baby, are haunted for years and decades. They (and their counselors) do not connect this traumatic loss with their lifelong struggles with anxiety, depression, addiction, dysfunctional relationships, etc. They are denied the mental health support they need to resolve the trauma.

Most women do not callously “choose” abortion as just a decision about “timing.” That is the language of abortion lobbyists and their paid legislators. Democrats showed no empathy for women who have abortions because of a lack of choices. How can you console a mother if you refuse to talk about her baby? Abortion is just a means of controlling births. Democrats lecture that it is no one’s business but the woman and her doctor. (Hypocrite alert: Democrats want taxpayers to pay for abortions that are none of their business.)    

Most abortions are for social reasons, not “health care.” Doctors only provide medical options – abortion, a conflict of interest. Most women have never even met the abortionist before their abortion. With mail-order abortion bills, she has never even been in the same room as the “doctor.” She administers the pills herself, without a physical exam, unprepared for the trauma of delivering a fully recognizable, albeit small, dead human baby in her bathroom alone.

It should be our business if women are having abortions because they don’t have other options. It certainly is the business of her parents and husband/partner. A caring society protects and supports its most vulnerable. Victims of sex trafficking have repeated abortions and STIs. “Reproductive care professionals” give them “medical care” and send them right back for repeat abuse. That is our business!

Washing our hands of women and their babies is reprehensible. Instead of defending the right to kill a baby, why not embrace responsibility, empathy, and hope that there is always a solution to a difficult situation that does not require taking an innocent life? Democrats dismiss parental rights by blaming parents and suggesting poor family relationships. The best families cannot always protect their children from abuses in a culture that sexually exploits children and devalues life. 

This radical amendment protects sex traffickers and abusive partners: “nor shall the Commonwealth penalize, prosecute, or otherwise take adverse action against an individual who aids or assists another individual, with such individual’s voluntary consent, in the exercise of such individual’s right to reproductive freedom.” 

An abused/exploited girl cannot freely consent, particularly in the presence of the abuser/exploiter “giving her aid” (forcing her abortion).  Former employees of Planned Parenthood report a culture of plausible deniability in the abortion industry. “Don’t ask questions if you suspect abuse, you will have to report it, and that may deny the abortion.” 

Democrats are counting on Virginians to be uninformed about this radical pro-abortion amendment. The language is vague and confusing, so voters will not consider the questions the Democrats refuse to answer. America rejected Kamala Harris’ single-issue radical abortion access until birth. Virginians have the same opportunity in November when they vote for members to represent them in the Virginia House of Delegates.

Mary Beth Style is a social worker with over 40 years of experience providing pregnancy and post-abortion counseling.