According to Life News a bill that would strengthen the health standards for abortion clinics here in the Commonwealth has passed through the Health, Welfare, and Institutions Committee in the House and is expected to get a full floor vote soon. Unfortunately, it is expected to have a more difficult time in the State Senate. Hopefully, Senate Democrats will have the courage to stand up to the abortion industry and support this legislation.
One would think that the pro-abortion lobby, which claims to care about the health and well being of women, would want the best possible standards for a procedure that can be very dangerous to the woman involved. Unfortunately, we have not seen this concern reflected on the part of the abortion industry.
This only serves to reflect the ideology that birthed such organizations as Planned Parenthood in the first place. One needs only to read the works of Planned Parenthood’s founder Margaret Sanger to know that the history of this particular organization is steeped in bigotry and racial hatred. It should not surprise us that most of Planned Parenthood’s abortion clinics are being build in predominately black and Hispanic neighborhoods.
This troubled history only seems to be confirmed by the recent reports out of Philadelphia, in which an abortion “doctor” has been properly indicted for murder. Furthermore, a common sense evaluation of abortion in America leads one to the conclusion that abortion is primarily used as a function of belated birth control. This allows for the elimination of those babies that are unwanted while allowing others to live. So much for the “all men are created equal” principle.
Unfortunately, while the left has sought to justify the actions of the abortion industry, many on the right have made attempts to avoid the issue in the past several years. This was due, in large part, to the desire of some figures on the right who have sought to avoid “divisive” social issues. Sadly, in an effort to avoid conflict, this group has called for the tolerance of injustice.
This year, so far, has been different. The pro-life movement has grown in energy and vitality, with personhood amendments having been proposed in states around the country, any successful one of which could trigger a court challenge to Roe v. Wade. The new Republican majority in Washington is working to defund abortion from a federal level. Meanwhile, efforts like the one currently underway in Virginia could serve to reduce the number of abortions, which have been on the rise in the Commonwealth.
An article in the Washington Post Virginia politics blog makes an interesting observation about the health standards bill making its way through the House of Delegates, according to the Post:
“Abortion providers fear that clinics won’t be able to afford the costs of making the changes and will shut down or increase their prices. They predict that if the Board of Health imposes the restrictions, 17 of 21 facilities in the state would most likely have to close their doors.”
So 17 of the 21 clinics would not meet the standards imposed by the Board of Health. This is in spite of the fact that the women involved are undergoing a quite serious, and sometimes risky, operation. Are we honestly supposed to believe that the abortion industry cares about the health of women?
Virginia of all places should understand that the right to life is not open for compromise. Our Commonwealth would do well to pass this legislation, to protect the lives of both the child in the womb and the mother.
