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Virginia Abortion Bill Sponsor Tries To Do Damage Control And Fails

Twitter screenshot/Kathy Tran

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Grace Carr Reporter
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Virginia Democratic Delegate Kathy Tran posted a damage control video on Twitter Thursday following significant backlash against her 40-week abortion bill.

“I want to be very clear about what’s currently allowed in Virginia law,” Tran said in the video. “Right now women are able to access an abortion in the later stages of pregnancy under certain conditions with the approval of medical doctors.”

“I’ve done nothing to change that. What I have done is to try to make sure that women are able to make these decisions and access these services in a timely manner” Tran said, speaking about her bill, HB 2491, which would repeal the state’s current restrictions on late-term abortions.

Tran’s bill would allow a doctor to perform an abortion when a woman is about to give birth. The measure eliminates the state’s requirement that second and third-trimester abortions be performed only to preserve the health or life of the woman. A woman seeking to abort would no longer need to obtain an ultrasound before having an abortion, under the proposed law.

Currently, three physicians must conclude that a third-trimester abortion is necessary to preserve the health or life of the woman. Those requirements are stripped under the proposed legislation, which also removes the state’s mandate that second and third-trimester abortions be performed in hospitals.

Tran represents Virginia’s 42nd House District.

She posted her statements after Virginia Democratic Gov. Ralph Northam made comments during a Wednesday morning interview condoning late-term abortion and infanticide.

“If a mother is in labor, I can tell you exactly what would happen. The infant would be delivered. The infant would be kept comfortable. The infant would be resuscitated if that’s what the mother and the family desired, and then a discussion would ensue between the physicians and the mother,” Northam said in a WTOP interview. (RELATED: Senator Sasse Tells Virginia Governor To ‘Get The Hell Out Of Public Office’ Over Abortion Remarks)

The governor received an onslaught of criticism after the interview aired.

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Tran has also faced criticism since she introduced her bill Monday, saying she supports abortion until birth, even when a woman is dilating.

Virginia Democratic Delegate Dawn Adams said Thursday that she is no longer co-sponsoring the bill, admitting that she didn’t get a chance to read it.

Tran did not immediately respond to The Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.

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