Major anti-abortion groups are planning a Saturday rally against a Virginia state lawmaker who appeared to condone late-term abortion right up to the moment of birth.
Susan B. Anthony List, the Virginia Family Foundation, and others are set to protest state Rep. Kathy Tran in her hometown of Lorton, Va., in a rally against “abortion extremism.”
Tran’s comments, and the support she got from Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam, drew fire from conservatives all week who said Virginia is looking to authorize abortion on demand at any phase during a pregnancy.
“On the heels of New York’s radical expansion of abortion, Delegate Tran’s bill and Governor Northam’s statements reveal with alarming clarity what the modern Democratic Party stands for and their agenda for our nation — abortion on demand, up until the moment of delivery and even beyond,” Susan B. Anthony List President Marjorie Dannenfelser said in a statement.
“This position is irreconcilable with the beliefs, values, and desires of most Americans,” she said.
[Related: Pelosi dodges on Ralph Northam’s controversial comments on third-term abortion]
The rally will be held Saturday at noon at South County High School in Lorton, and it will be attended by representatives of several anti-abortion groups.
Those groups include Students for Life, Heritage Action for America, Concerned Women for America, and March for Life.
Virginia law currently requires three doctors to certify that a third-trimester pregnancy must be terminated to avoid the death or serious injury of the mother.
Tran’s bill would require only one doctor to make that decision, and it would have allowed those decisions to be made even if harm to the patient was not deemed likely to “substantially and irremediably impair” the mother.
At a hearing, Tran seemed to say the bill would allow an abortion right up until the point of birth. Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam then seemed to defend Tran’s comments by talking about how a “nonviable” fetus might be handled at the point of birth, which conservatives argued was an endorsement of infanticide.
“So in this particular example, if a mother is in labor, I can tell you exactly what would happen,” he said. “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 mothers.”
Tran has since said she misspoke and that the bill would not allow an abortion so late in a pregnancy.
“I should have said: ‘Clearly, no because infanticide is not allowed in Virginia, and what would have happened in that moment would be a live birth,'” she said.
