The fallout from the Democratic abortion measure in Virginia is far from over. Republicans around the country have blasted the measure which, along with New York's recent abortion expansion, would allow abortions of viable unborn babies, even up to the day of their birth.
What's just happened in these two states could make abortion a major issue in next year's elections.
"The pro-abortion leaders in these states are proving once and for all what they're really about, and that's abortion whenever, even up until the moment of birth and even after birth," Kristan Hawkins, president of Students for Life, told CBN News. Hawkins was partly referring to what Virginia's Gov. Ralph Northam (D) said about allowing newborn babies to die if they have defects.
President Trump spoke out about the proposed legislation as well, saying during an interview with The Daily Caller that it would "lift the whole pro-life movement" like never before.
Hawkins also believes the legislation is actually a good sign for the pro-life movement.
"Abortion advocates are showing their hand. They're so afraid Roe (is going to) fall, and fall very soon, that they're going to Democrat states, states where they feel like they have a stronghold, to pass this outrageous legislation to make sure abortion is legal in their state once Roe falls," Hawkins explained.
Meanwhile, a Democratic co-sponsor has backed away her support of the legislation in Virginia. In an email, she confessed that she hadn't exercised "due diligence" by closely examining the language of a bill she was attaching her name to.
And Gov. Northam, a pediatric neurologist, is defending his own comments in support of the bill.
Critics said his position on what could happen to a child after being born alive amounted to infanticide. Northam said Thursday, his comments had been "mischaracterized."
None of the Democratic lawmakers running for president in 2020 have commented on the Virginia abortion bill. But many of them are co-sponsors of a bill called the Women's Health Protection Act. It would over-ride state restrictions on third-trimester abortions.
"The majority of Americans aren't even anywhere near that, that's an extremist position to hold," Hawkins told CBN News. "In fact a poll we just had released shows that only 7 percent of millennials, the largest voting block in America, were in line with this thinking on abortion: abortion all nine months and taxpayer-funded."
Gallup polling indicates Democrats are out of step with the public on the issue. Sixty percent of Americans think abortion should only be allowed in the first trimester and only 13 percent support it in the third trimester.
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