End laws restricting woman's right to direct her health care
It's time to end the laws that restrict a woman's right to direct her own health care. Virginia has put these in place over the past 20 years or so. They're not about health care. They are about injecting politics and the government into the
relationship between a woman and her physician.
You don't have to be a doctor to know that's bad medicine. No more will legislators in Richmond--most of whom are men--be telling women what they should and should not be doing with their bodies.
Source: 2020 Virginia State of the State address
, Jan 8, 2020
FactCheck: No, would not execute babies after birth
During his State of the Union address, President Trump blasted Gov. Ralph Northam for his remarks on infanticide: "We had the case of the governor of Virginia, where he stated he would execute a baby after birth," Trump added, referencing Ralph Northam.
Northam described the result of a failed late-term abortion when the baby has survived. "If a mother is in labor, I can tell you exactly what would happen, the infant would be delivered," the governor said. "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 & mother."
Northam said that if a baby is born alive despite the efforts of the doctor to kill the baby in an
abortion, the infant would "be resuscitated" only "if that's what the mother and the family desired." In other words, a baby who survives an attempted abortion should be considered dead, so that caring for the baby would be considered "resuscitation."
Legislation repealed: [Following is law which is repealed by a YEA vote, or kept by a NAY vote]: At least 24 hours before the performance of an abortion, a qualified medical professional trained in sonography shall perform fetal
transabdominal ultrasound imaging for the purpose of determining gestational age. If the pregnant woman lives at least 100 miles from the facility where the abortion is to be performed, the fetal ultrasound imaging shall be performed at least two hours
before the abortion. The ultrasound image shall contain the dimensions of the fetus and accurately portray the presence of external members and internal organs of the fetus. A print of the ultrasound image shall be made to document the measurements that
have been taken to determine the gestational age of the fetus.
Legislative Outcome:: Introduced Jan 14; passed Senate 20-20 on Feb. 11, with tie-breaker vote by Lt. Gov. Northam; died in House Committee.
Led fight against transvaginal ultrasound requirement
Dr. Northam ran for State Senator promising to approach public service with the same passion and focus on results that he served with in the military and as a doctor. He believed--as he does now--that you reach across the aisle to get things done
without ever compromising your core beliefs and always by fighting for what's right. That's why Dr. Northam led the fight against the now infamous transvaginal ultrasound bill that Ken Cuccinelli and his allies tried to impose on Virginia women.
"As Lieutenant Governor, I am proud to support progress for all Virginians. During the past two legislative sessions, I cast tie-breaking votes to ban employment discrimination based on sexual orientation in state government,
to repeal the infamous and medically unnecessary ultrasound mandate, and to raise the minimum wage for working Virginians."
Democrat Ralph Northam will run for Virginia governor. "We need to continue investing in early childhood education," Northam wrote, "creating jobs in the new Virginia economy, protecting women's reproductive rights and expanding access to
Medicaid for 400,000 of our citizens."
Source: AMI Newswire on 2017 Virginia governor's race
, Oct 20, 2015
Keep abortion funding for women carrying fetal abnormalities
Dr. Ralph Northam led an effort to stop the Republican war on women that has sought to limit access to legal and safe health care and made Virginia a national punch line. Northam sponsored SB 1080 and SB 1082, which would have repealed the ill-advised
and offensive mandatory ultrasound requirement passed last year, but Republicans defeated both measures on party-line votes in a Senate committee. Northam issued the following statement in response:
"I am embarrassed that not one Republican joined
Democrats in repealing the mandatory ultrasound requirement. Clearly, Republicans not only do not trust women to make their own medical decisions, but want to interfere in the sacred doctor-patient relationship. This kind of invasive government
regulation has no place in Virginia law."
At the same committee meeting, Northam also led the charge to defeat SB 826, a bill that would have eliminated abortion funding for low-income women if their fetuses had gross abnormalities.
Opposes restrictive TRAP laws & dangerous personhood bill
Like so many Virginians, I have been troubled by the repeated attempts to restrict women's reproductive rights. One of the reasons I got into the race for Lt. Governor is to put an end to this dangerous agenda that undermines women's health.
Efforts to put the government squarely in between a woman and her doctor need to stop.
From the restrictive TRAP laws to the dangerous personhood bill, this extreme agenda threatens basic birth control and primary services that Virginia women depend on. I will continue to do everything
I can to keep the government out of our private lives and out of personal health care decisions. On this issue the choice in this election could not be clearer: I will defend women's access to health care.
Today Dr. Ralph Northam, a Democratic state Senator and candidate for Leiutenant Governor, led an effort to stop the Republican war on women that has sought to limit access to legal and safe health care and made Virginia a national punch line.
Northam sponsored SB 1080 and SB 1082, which would have repealed the ill-advised and offensive mandatory ultrasound requirement passed last year, but Republicans defeated both measures on party-line votes.
Northam responded, "I am embarrassed for the Commonwealth of Virginia that not one Republican could break ranks to join Democrats in repealing the mandatory ultrasound requirement, which garnered such negative national attention one year ago. Clearly,
Republicans not only do not trust women to make their own medical decisions, but want to interfere in the sacred doctor-patient relationship. This kind of invasive government regulation has no place in Virginia law."