Failed Virginia abortion bill stirs controversy

Democrats who supported a failed effort this week in Virginia to weaken protections for unborn babies in later stages of pregnancy insist they were not as callous toward late-term infants as their arguments made them sound. Democratic Delegate Kathy Tran introduced the bill and testified this week before a House subcommittee that it would allow a pregnant woman to request an abortion even if she was moments away from giving birth. Gov. Ralph Northam, also a Democrat, added fuel to the fire Wednesday by describing in a radio interview a hypothetical situation in which an infant who was severely deformed or unable to survive after birth could be left to die. Northam called the controversy overblown and said that as a physician he has devoted his life to caring for children.

Tran’s legislation, which the subcommittee voted down, would have reduced the requirements for approving late-term abortions, which are already legal in the state in certain circumstances. President Donald Trump weighed in, telling The Daily Caller in an interview posted online Wednesday, “I thought it was terrible. … Do you remember when I said Hillary Clinton was willing to rip the baby out of the womb? That’s what it is, that’s what they’re doing, it’s terrible.”