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Trump Blasts Late-Term Abortion Legislation In SOTU Address

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Grace Carr Reporter
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President Donald Trump blasted late-term abortion legislation and slammed Democratic Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam in his Tuesday night address to the nation, as he vowed to protect the lives of unborn children.

“There could be no greater contrast to the beautiful image of a mother holding her infant child than the chilling displays our nation saw in recent days,” Trump said, pointing to the passage and introduction of extreme abortion legislation. Among those displays is “the case of the Governor of Virginia [who] … basically stated he would execute a baby after birth,” Trump said, referring to comments Virginia Democratic Gov. Ralph Northam made Wednesday appearing to condone infanticide.

“To defend the dignity of every person, I am asking the Congress to pass legislation to prohibit the late-term abortion of children who can feel pain in the mother’s womb,” Trump continued. The president’s remarks refer to the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act, introduced Monday by Nebraska Republican Sen. Ben Sasse. The bill would mandate that babies born in abortion clinics be immediately given medical attention and taken to the hospital.

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“Let us work together to build a culture that cherishes innocent life,” Trump said. “And let us reaffirm a fundamental truth: all children, born and unborn, are made in the holy image of God.”

Trump’s remarks come amid a number of proposals to expand abortion access. Rhode Island is considering a bill that would allow the abortion of post-viable babies for reasons extending beyond the preservation of the mother’s life.

Vermont is considering H-0057 which would give women the right to abort a baby at any time and for any reason up until birth. “Every individual who becomes pregnant has the fundamental right to choose to carry a pregnancy to term, give birth to a child, or to have an abortion,” the bill reads.

Virginia’s HB 2491 would repeal the state’s current restrictions on late-term abortions. The bill would allow a doctor to perform an abortion when a woman is dilating, meaning she is about to give birth. The proposal eliminates the state’s requirement that second and third-trimester abortions be performed only to preserve the health or life of the woman. (RELATED: Capitol Hill Democrats Respond To Late-Term Abortion Debate Within Party)

Demonstrators rally in support of abortion and other women’s rights, and against President Trump’s administration, on March 8, 2017, International Women’s Day, in Washington, DC. Shutterstock/Rena Schild

New York passed the Reproductive Health Act Jan. 22 expanding abortion access and codifying a woman’s right to abort under state law. The law removes abortion from the state’s criminal code and allows women to have abortions after 24 weeks in cases where “there is an absence of fetal viability, or at any time when necessary to protect a patient’s life or health,” according to the legislation.

Maryland, Maine and New Mexico are also considering similar bills expanding abortion access, according to the Associated Press.

“It is time for politicians, regardless of party, to stand up in favor of protecting innocent life,” March For Life Action President Tom McClusky said in a statement.

Seventy-five percent of Americans support significant abortion restrictions and say abortion should not be legal after a woman is three months pregnant, according to a Jan. 15 Marist poll.

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