Youngkin, the Republican candidate for Governor of Virginia, who has tried to avoid the subject altogether, has nevertheless revealed some of his extreme abortion positions. Topping the list are — no concern for a woman’s health; no exception for fetal anomalies, and support for “fetal pain” 15 week bill that would overturn Roe.
This infamous example from Peru shows what could happen in a Youngkin Virginia, which would have no abortion exception for the health of the mother
Over the course of four years, L.C., a young teenager, was repeatedly raped . When she discovered that she was pregnant, she threw herself from the roof of a building in an attempt at suicide. Physicians could have repaired the broken spine she suffered, but doctors refused to operate on her damaged spine, because they thought the fetus was more important than her well-being. Only after L.C. miscarried were the doctors willing to perform the necessary surgery. The enormous delay dramatically diminished the success of the intervention, and L.C. is now virtually quadriplegic; she cannot walk, cannot control her bowels, and has little use of her arms and hands. (link) Her life was never at risk, but she will forever be severely disabled.
That is the type of outcome that Youngkin would allow for a Virginia that does not consider the health of the mother.
An example of what could happen where there is no exception for fetal anomalies also comes from Peru.
When K.L. was 17 years old, she found out that she was 14 weeks pregnant and received a fetal anomaly diagnosis of anencephaly, a disorder in which the embryo or fetus lacks a major portion of the brain, and rarely lives for a few days after birth and even more commonly does not even make it through the pregnancy. Even though abortion is legal for therapeutic reasons in Peru, K.L. was denied access to an abortion by the hospital director and was compelled to carry the pregnancy to term. The baby survived for four days after birth, and K.L. breastfed during that time. This case made it to Peru’s Supreme Court where, after a decade, K.L. was partially compensated for the cruelty she endured. (link) A United Nations Committee argued that Peru had violated many of the victim’s rights, including prohibition on torture and inhuman, cruel, and degrading treatment, a right to private life, and the right of minors to measures of protection. (link) K.L. became an activist for reproductive justice.
In addition to his failure to support policies that protect pregnant women from damage to their health, and his support for forcing them give birth to fetal anomalies, Youngkin signals his push to overturn Roe with his support for a “fetal pain” 15 week bill. Placing a woman in control over the decision to abort until fetal viability at 22 to 24 weeks is essential to Roe. Once you ignore the wellbeing of the person who is pregnant, and give priority to the physiological features of embryo or fetus, be they real or imaginary, you are on the way to banning all abortions. During the last debate, Youngkin complained the McAuliffe said the word “Trump” too many times. Too bad he did not have the opportunity to grouse about his opponent saying the word “Roe” too many times.
The idea here is not to work toward the ideal, which is that anyone desiring an abortion should have the right to have one, no exceptions needed. The idea is to keep antiabortionists out of government by exposing the inhumanity of their positions.
Bringing up these matters, forces an antiabortionist such as Youngkin to display his true colors. Being confronted with these issues makes it easier to defeat antiabortionists because clarity on these issues makes them loose support on one side or the other. While Youngkin’s “exceptions for rape, incest and the life of the mother” sounds better than Texas, his malice toward women is obvious in what he does not support as exceptions. And his attack on Roe is obvious.