Dominic Best listened patiently as state Sen. Barbara Favola explained her support of the proposed amendment to Virginia’s constitution to promote and facilitate more abortions.
Standing next to 10 classmates from Bishop O’Connell High School in Arlington, Best waited until Favola, a Democrat whose 40th District covers most of Arlington County, told the students she would take one more question in the tight quarters of her Richmond office.
Best stepped forward, telling the senator: “Frederick Douglass said that slavery was always illegal and can never be made legal because it’s contrary to the principles of liberty enshrined in the Declaration of Independence,” said Best, who was participating in Virginia Pro-Life Day, along with Bishop Michael F. Burbidge and hundreds of other pro-life supporters Jan. 15. “Likewise with life — It’s contrary to the principles of the Declaration of Independence to support the Illegal killing of unborn human beings … and you as a senator have taken an oath to uphold and defend the Declaration of Independence and the constitution … ”
Before Best could get to his question, Favola cut him off to defend her position: “I want decisions made between doctors and patients,” she said. “I do not want government interference, so there’s going to be a difference of opinion.”
The exchange and entire meeting with Favola was cordial, but emblematic of the significant hurdles that exist to stop the amendment from becoming law. The state legislature passed the amendment Jan. 16, clearing the way for a ballot initiative that will be decided by Virginia voters in November.
Best was grateful for the opportunity to have a face-to-face encounter with a senator. “Normally when we do these lobbying trips, we get some aide writing down what we say,” he said. “I appreciate the senator’s time, but her argument isn’t that good because the idea that all rights are equal and interchangeable is purely novel. The declaration says we have certain inalienable rights and life is the most fundamental right.”
Amy McInerny, diocesan director of Respect Life, told the assembled group of pro-lifers before their meetings with senators that the language of the amendment “is so broad that in fact it could serve as a trojan horse to expand coverage of gender-rejecting surgeries for children suffering from gender dysphoria, who could undergo chemical and surgical procedures without parental involvement or consent,” she said. “Is that the future we want for our commonwealth, for our children?”
Knowing it was long odds to stave off passage of the amendment, all those who made the trip to Richmond, trudging several blocks from the convention center to the General Assembly Building in sub-freezing weather, said it was worth it. “I’m here because we need to talk to people and have them really look at this amendment and what it will do,” said Kristen Day, executive director of Democrats for Life of America. “Democrats are wrong on this. We say we don’t want unelected judges to determine our reproductive health care policy, but that’s exactly what this will do. It will throw parental consent into the courts.”
Peter Hickman, a parishioner of the Cathedral of St. Thomas More in Arlington, had a robust debate with Favola, alongside the O’Connell students. “This is a witness,” he said. “We are all called to be witnesses and to not worry about what the results will be.”
Acknowledging that the battle over the amendment will soon be in the hands of voters, Dana DiMattia, a parishioner of the Basilica of St. Mary in Alexandria, co-founded Virginia for Preborn Justice to provide awareness of the extreme nature of the amendment. “We want to make abortion unthinkable and we have to do that from the grassroots,” she said. “We are a network that is trying to mobilize average, everyday pro-lifers throughout the state.”
McInerny said that pro-life supporters must not be discouraged. “We the people can vote it down,” she said. “We are going to pledge to continue to sound the alarm and we’re going to go back to our neighborhoods, our book clubs, our schools, our churches and our families … so that when we go to the polls in November, we the people will finally hit the brakes on this runaway train.”
