Federal Court Strikes Down Pro-Life Laws
Late Monday night, we learned of a rogue federal court’s disturbing decision in Falls Church Medical Center v. Oliver, on a preliminary challenge by Planned Parenthood against nearly every law on our books designed to affirm and protect life for moms and their unborn babies. After digesting the court’s shocking opinion, here’s the gist of the tragic results:
Non-physician staff (e.g. nurses and even midwives) will now be allowed to conduct both surgical and “medical” first-trimester abortions, putting women at even greater risk. (VA’s law for physician-only abortions has been on the books since 1975.) Now, women undergoing a medical or surgical first-trimester abortion will go through this difficult medical procedure without a doctor!
All 16 of Virginia’s abortion centers will now be allowed to perform second-trimester abortions with no criminal penalties. (VA’s criminal law requiring 2nd-Trimester abortions to be conducted in hospitals has been on the books since 1975.) Only two facilities in the state were previously able to perform these.
All of Virginia’s health and safety regulations for abortion facilities have been called into question and are now in serious jeopardy of being invalidated.
This doesn’t even account for the numerous other laws now up in the air to be decided in a trial set for May 20 – such as the “window into the womb” ultrasound requirement, informed consent procedures, the 24-hour wait period before an abortion, and other reasonable measures designed to protect women who are facing such a life-altering decision.
The single greatest political battle we’ve been fighting in Virginia in recent years is defending our hard-fought and common-sense pro-life laws from the relentless schemes of the radical abortion industry to undermine and destroy them. Despite some notable victories, this defense is proving all but impossible when our own Attorney General is the primary culprit in undermining them at every turn.
The abortion industry, led by Planned Parenthood, is seeking to ‘run the tables’ on Virginians in one fell swoop with a single court opinion after 40+ years of solid pro-life gains. They realized that, with this Attorney General fully in their pocket, whose “defense” of our laws in this case looked more like a complete acquiescence to Planned Parenthood’s claims, the judge almost had no choice but to hand so much to the abortion industry.
And when the named Defendant in the case, the state Commissioner of Health – appointed by the infanticide-promoting Governor Northam – takes every opportunity to side with the abortionist Plaintiffs in establishing the claims and facts, how do our pro-life laws stand a chance??? This kind of governence is tyranny at its worst, and the potential consequences are hard to even imagine.
Every Virginian should be outraged!
With virtually no control over what happens next, this is yet another moment for all pro-life Virginians to reflect on one unasailable reality: Elections have consequences. That being true, while we may have little control, we have the ear of the One who has all control. Please join me in praying for the outcome of this case to be fully argued on May 20th. So much is at stake for so many who need the laws' protection.
In the face of this disheartening news, and regardless of the outcome of the final trial, we remain undaunted and will continue to fight in the legislature, the courts, and the hearts and minds of all Virginians.
