Fri Jan 13, 2023 – 5:11 pm EST
(LifeSiteNews) — Two Republican members of the Virginia General Assembly introduced legislation that would ban most abortions in the state after 15 weeks of pregnancy, fulfilling a pledge made by GOP Gov. Glenn Youngkin to pursue policies that protect preborn babies after the overturning of Roe v. Wade last year.
Delegate Kathy Byron (District 22) and Senator Stephen Newman (District 23) introduced HB 2278 on Wednesday, January 11, the day Youngkin delivered his annual State of the Commonwealth address.
If approved, the “Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act” would make it a class 4 felony for any physician to “terminate” a pregnancy or to willfully cause a miscarriage. However, the bill would also allow for abortion if the life of the mother was at risk and if the pregnancy was a result of rape or incest. It also makes an exception if “one or more of such woman’s major bodily functions, not including psychological or emotional conditions” is threatened. At present, abortion in Virginia is legal in the first and second “trimesters” of pregnancy. The third trimester begins around 28 weeks.
Youngkin rode a wave of populist support to
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