WASHINGTON, DC—The Commonwealth of Virginia stands on the precipice of repealing critical health and safety protections that have protected women from unlicensed and dangerous abortion practitioners. If Gov. Ralph Northam signs this extreme bill, women in Virginia will be subjected to substandard medical conditions in abortion facilities across the Commonwealth, including the possibility that those performing abortions may not even be licensed physicians. Americans United for Life (AUL) is appalled by the flippant approach that many Virginia politicians are taking towards the wellbeing of the state’s women and girls.
“How does it make sense to allow a non-physician to perform an invasive and dangerous procedure?” said Steven H. Aden, Chief Legal Officer & General Counsel at Americans United for Life. “G.K. Chesterton’s famous parable of the fence in the woods comes to mind: if you are wandering through a forest you have never been to and you encounter a fence, don’t tear it down because it was built for a good reason. Until now, Virginia’s common-sense patient protections have helped to ensure that women receive at least a baseline standard of proper medical care when they seek an abortion. Virginia is courting disaster by advancing this retrograde legislation. Abortion will become even more dirty and dangerous in Virginia, patient care will degrade, and women seeking care will be at greater risk.”
“This is a tremendous setback,” said Katie Glenn, Government Affairs Counsel at Americans United for Life, “but as we have seen in the past, such as when Gov. Northam proposed letting a born-alive survivor of abortion die due to lack of care and treatment, pro-abortion extremism galvanizes many more Americans to protect life in their state. I look forward to partnering with those concerned citizens every step of the way to protect life throughout this critical year.”
Americans United for Life (AUL) is a nonprofit, public-interest law and policy organization that holds the distinction of being the first national pro-life organization in America—incorporated in 1971. It protects and defends human life from conception to natural death through vigorous legislative, judicial, and educational efforts.
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