Anger and disgust over pro-abortion
comments made by Virginia politicians inspired hundreds of people with two days’
notice to attend the pro-life Resist Infanticide Rally outside South County
High School in Lorton Feb. 2. Rally participants said the callous statements
about late-term abortion had shocked them and compelled them to protest though the
bill that sparked the controversy failed and the delegate who sponsored the
bill and was hosting the town hall meeting in Lorton canceled her event the
evening before.
“We are mortified, terrified, horrified,
all of the ‘-fieds’ you can think of that Virginia is going to go the same way
as New York,” said Erin Caines, a parishioner of Holy Spirit Church in
Annandale who came to the rally with her husband and five children, ages 1 to
13. “We want to make sure that people know Virginians are not for (that bill).
Virginians are for life and we don’t want extreme abortion laws passed through
our state.”
Earlier in the week, Virginia
Republicans released a video of Del. Kathy Tran (D-Fairfax) defending her
late-term abortion bill. In the video, Del. Todd Gilbert (R-Shenandoah)
questions Tran, asking, “How late in the third trimester could a physician
perform an abortion if he indicated it would impair the mental health of the
woman?”
“Through the third trimester,” she
responds during the Jan. 28 subcommittee hearing at the General Assembly in
Richmond.
He then asks, “Where it’s obvious that a
woman is about to give birth, would that still be a point she could request an
abortion?”
“My bill would allow that,” said Tran.
Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam further
inflamed the situation when, in a Jan. 30
interview about the video, he said, “So, if a mother is in labor, the
infant would be delivered, the infant would be kept comfortable, the infant
would be resuscitated if the mother and the family desired, and then a
discussion would ensue between the physicians and mother.”
Angela McGuire, a parishioner of St. Patrick
Church in Fredericksburg, said she was heartbroken after learning about Tran’s
bill. Five and a half years ago, McGuire’s
son, Jude Lucas, died at 18 weeks gestation. “This rips that wound wide open
for me,” said McGuire, “It’s like it was yesterday.”
Jennifer Brandi from Hyattsville, Md.,
said she normally doesn’t come to events like these, but in this case, she felt
it was her civic duty to attend. “I just found it very upsetting. I think it
upsets a lot of people,” she said. “I can’t see any justification for it. Even
for the reasons that were given, none of it really makes any sense and it
really devalues human life. I just hope (the politicians) have a change in
their own hearts.”
Before the speeches, men, women and
children bundled for the cold weather lined the sidewalks carrying signs that
read, “Love them both,” “Life is good” and “Stop abortion extremism in
Virginia.” At noon, the crowd gathered around the podium to hear speakers from
several pro-life organizations, including Susan B. Anthony List, Students for
Life of America, The Family Foundation, Virginia Society for Human Life, March
for Life, and Concerned Women for America.
Many speakers urged pro-lifers to use
their voices and their votes to advocate for life. Currently, pro-lifers hold
the legislature majority by one delegate and two senators. Many believe the
General Assembly will flip to a pro-choice majority after November elections.
“We need to be prepared because (this bill) is going to come back in Virginia,”
said Tina Whittington of Students for Life.
A speaker from Care Net, a pregnancy
resource center chain, and Amy McInerny, diocesan director of Respect Life, highlighted
how pro-lifers offer support to pregnant women in need. “Until that day that
every life is protected in law and welcomed in love, the Diocese of Arlington
stands ready to continue to offer assistance to expectant families in need, as
well as healing to those who are suffering after abortion,” said McInerny. “We
can make abortion not just unnecessary, but unthinkable.”
Related: Bishop Burbidge responds to Governor Northam's extreme abortion comments
Chaney Mullins of Divine Mercy Care, the
education arm of Tepeyac OB/GYN in Fairfax, said studies show when mothers are
presented with support and the option of perinatal hospice for their sick unborn
child, up to 85 percent of women want to continue to their pregnancies. “The
proper medical intervention, even in the case of a fatal diagnosis for an
unborn baby, is not murder but perinatal hospice. That child is loved (and)
cherished for the short time a family is given to be with him or her,” said
Mullins. “What a contrast to our governor’s strategy, treating the sick child
like property whose value is left up to discussion.”
Marjorie Dannenfelser of the Susan B.
Anthony List gave an impassioned message to politicians. “Any legislator in
this nation (who) is considering allowing abortion up until birth, and
infanticide itself, here's one thing we want you to know: if you seek to build
women’s rights upon the broken bodies of America’s children, you will fail,”
she said. “You are failing, and we will defeat you.”
Related: Video of Fairfax delegate supporting late-term abortion goes viral
After the rally, an extended Vietnamese
family stayed to display their homemade signs to passing drivers. Anthony Cao’s
sign included a famous photo from the Vietnam War of a girl screaming as gas
from a Napalm blast burns her skin. Cao said
he was sick to his stomach when he heard that Tran, a fellow Vietnamese person,
had introduced this bill.
“Vietnamese people are nonviolent. We
went through a lot. We witnessed a lot of evil. And this is just a bill to
introduce evil and we cannot let that happen,” said Anthony, a parishioner of
St. Philip Church in Falls Church. “I don’t care what religion or politics you
have. I appreciate all these religious signs, I’m a Catholic, no doubt, but
life is a universal principle.”
His brother Chuong Cao, who came from
Maryland, carried a sign that read in block letters, “Vietnamese Americans for
Life.”
“We’re all here immigrants and we were
all very young, some 2, 3 years old, brought on a boat, risking crossing the
ocean to have a chance at life,” said Chuong. “That is very powerful, that our
parents said, ‘Your life does not belong to the state, your life does not
belong to the government, it’s in the hands of the Almighty,’ and that's worth
risking. Bet on life, not on death.”
When asked by another man what he would
like to tell Tran, Anthony, paused, then said, “I would say you’re a loved
human being. You deserve love. And love does not mean killing.”
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