House Majority Leader Todd Gilbert today challenged Virginia Democrats to rebuke Democrat Presidential Candidate Beto O’Rourke and his position on abortion up until birth.
House Majority Leader Todd Gilbert (R-Shenandoah) issued the following statement:
“Virginia and the nation as a whole were horrified earlier this year when Democrat Del. Kathy Tran introduced a bill that, in her own words, would allow abortion until the moment of birth. They were further horrified when Governor Northam not only agreed with her, but virtually every state-level Democrat in Virginia did as well,” Gilbert said.
“It is my sincere hope that Democrats will take this opportunity to renounce their support of abortion up until the moment of birth, and join Republicans in our recognition that even 5 minutes before birth, a baby represents a human life worthy of respect and protection,” he added.
Background:
O’Rourke, a former U.S. Senate candidate, will be in Virginia Friday and Saturday, holding events in Blacksburg and Charlottesville.
At a campaign event on Monday in Charleston, South Carolina, a student asked candidate O’Rourke if his life had any value the day before he was born. The Democrat attempted to dodge the question at first, but continued at length.
“You were at a town-hall meeting just like this in Cleveland and someone asked you specifically about third-trimester abortions, and you said that’s a decision left up to the mother,” a young man told O’Rourke in the first question of the event. “I was born September 8, 1989,” he added, “and I want to know if you think on September 7, 1989, my life had no value.”
At first, the former congressman tried to dodge. “Of course I don’t think that,” he replied. “And of course I’m glad that you’re here.” But that wasn’t all O’Rourke had to say on the subject.
“This is a decision that neither you, nor I, nor the United States government should be making. That’s a decision for the woman to make. We want her to have the best possible access to care and to a medical provider,” O’Rourke said, before referring to the Supreme Court decision in Roe v. Wade as the “settled law of the land.”
“I don’t question the decisions that a woman makes,” he added. “Only a woman knows what she knows, and I want to trust her with that.”