{"id":158586,"date":"2016-12-19T09:52:42","date_gmt":"2016-12-19T14:52:42","guid":{"rendered":"\/news\/?p=158586"},"modified":"2017-01-03T01:11:35","modified_gmt":"2017-01-03T06:11:35","slug":"virginia-may-become-19th-state-pass-20-week-abortion-ban","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/virginia-may-become-19th-state-pass-20-week-abortion-ban\/","title":{"rendered":"Virginia may become 19th state to pass a 20-week abortion ban"},"content":{"rendered":"
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As Live Action News reported<\/a>, in December, Ohio became the 18th state<\/a> to pass a 20-week abortion ban.\u00a0According to the Staunton News Leader<\/a>, a\u00a0similar bill, called the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act,\u00a0has now\u00a0been\u00a0introduced in the Virginia House of Delegates.<\/p>\n

The proposed bill would ban abortions<\/a> after 20 weeks of pregnancy and contains an exception for the life of the mother or to “avert serious risk of substantial and irreversible physical impairment of a major bodily function” to the mother. Similar bills failed to pass in Virginia in 2015 and earlier in 2016. The current version is set to reach the House floor in January 2017.<\/p>\n

Del. Mark Cole, a co-sponsor of the bill, believes the bill would be a step in the right direction. “Obviously, I\u2019m pro-life, and I think government has a responsibility to protect innocent life,” explained<\/a> Cole,\u00a0“and I think this is a reasonable compromise.”<\/p>\n

Science proves, with “substantial medical evidence<\/a>,”\u00a0that preborn children can feel pain by 20 weeks, though some studies indicate<\/a> they can feel pain as early as 5.5 weeks. Despite this, D&E abortions (described below with medical animation by former abortionist Dr. Anthony Levatino), are performed throughout the U.S. as one of the most common abortion procedures:<\/p>\n