The Virginia "Rights Beginning At Conception" bill (HB1395) is sponsored and was introduced on November 30 by Republican State Delegate Marie March. A professed Christian and "no-compromise conservative," March minces no words about her pro-life stance.
"Since getting elected, I have felt called to fight for the lives of all the little souls that haven't been given a chance," she posted on Facebook just before introducing the measure. "We have our own cross to bear and it is the reality of all the aborted children in America …. I hope that when my days on Earth are done and God calls me home that I will have lived my life if only to save even one unborn life."
HB1395 defines conception as "the process of combining the male gamete with the female gamete, resulting in a fertilized ovum or zygote." It then goes on to state: "Life begins at conception and each person is accorded the same rights and protections guaranteed to all persons by the Constitution of the United States, the Constitution of Virginia, and the laws of the Commonwealth beginning at the moment of conception."
March's bill has the support of groups such as American Life League. ALL executive vice president Hugh Brown declares HB1395 "is probably the best language that we've seen" in legislation designed to protect the unborn.
"I'm 54 years old. My family has been involved in this since I remember remembering," he tells AFN. "I've always said there isn't a political solution because it's just a nightmare. Politics is a nightmare. But honestly, this is the answer."
Brown says protection of the unborn is badly needed in Virginia. "In Mississippi and Texas and some other states there are some really good laws and lives are being saved," he shares, "but not here in Virginia. So, hopefully this stands a chance."
Virginia-based Students for Life Action also hailed the bill's introduction in early December, arguing "we should not need to hit a certain milestone before our existence is acknowledged and our life protected." The group also commended Delegate March for having the "grittiness, boldness, and a passion for the preborn" to oppose the abortion lobby in the Commonwealth.
An uphill battle to enshrine abortion
Meanwhile, a coalition of pro-abortion groups wants to launch an effort to put a constitutional amendment on Ohio's 2023 ballot that would guarantee abortion up to birth. Elizabeth Morbach of Ohio Right to Life tells AFN the anti-life advocates must gather many thousands of signatures to accomplish their goal.
"It's definitely going to be an uphill battle for them," she describes, "but … because of all the outside sourcing that they'll get from millionaires and billionaires in California and New York, I worry that they'll have the funds available to get those signatures."
According to Morbach, the money from sources outside the state will increase if the signatures are obtained with the goal of approval of an amendment. But Morbach's group is already mobilizing their forces to deal with it.
"We have plenty of pro-lifers here on the ground and we're ready and willing to deploy them out there to get out the vote to tell voters not to enshrine abortion," she assures. "Abortion is not a fundamental right that needs to be in our Constitution."
The Ohio pro-lifer says people need to fully understand that legalization would mean the purposeful ending of an innocent human life – and that while the ballot initiative will talk about "health care," it shouldn't have a provision allowing abortion on demand.
