Life

April 21, 2023

The Virginia Society for Human Life Political Action Committee (VSHL PAC) is pleased to endorse you as you seek election to the Virginia General Assembly Senate 1st District of Virginia. 

You have shown a commitment to advancing and defending pro-life principles, and you have pledged your support of legislation that would protect the right to life of all Virginians. Thus, you deserve the support of voters who are concerned with the right to life and the protection of the most vulnerable members of the human family. We wish you success in your campaign and look forward to working with you in the years ahead in the tradition of Virginia’s own Thomas Jefferson, who wrote, “The care of human life and happiness, and not their destruction, is the chief and only legitimate object of good government.”
Sincerely, 

Holly Smith, Chairman, Virginia Society for Human Life Political Action Committee (VSHL-PAC)

Read the full VSHL-PAC endorsement letter here.

Click here to read the full 2023 Senate District 1 LaRock endorsement letter from prolife leader Mike Farris

I love my 7 children and 19 grandchildren and want all babies to be treated with dignity and respect from the time of conception. I am committed to protecting the unborn, while helping women in crisis situations get the help they need. As a Delegate, I have introduced legislation and budget amendments each session to protect life and strengthen families.

My June 24, 2022 statement on Justice Alito’s majority opinion in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, overturning the Roe v. Wade and Casey decisions is here.

Current status of Virginia law, and where we go from here: https://afterroe.com/virginia/

Statistics on abortion in Virginia by locality, race and marriage status and by facility

Information on free, local resources available to women facing challenging pregnancies, including free ultrasounds, counseling, and supplies:

• https://helpinyourarea.com/virginia/
• www.helpforpregnantwomen.org
• www.helpafterabortion.org
• https://herplan.org/ (click on map below for Virginia resource locations and information)

Research and facts about pregnancy and abortion:

• AAPLOG – American Association of Pro-life Obstetricians & Gynecologists
• Charlotte Lozier Institute

I am committed to protecting unborn babies and their mothers. As a delegate, I have introduced legislation and budget amendments each session to protect Life.

2023 session: I introduced several bills and budget amendments, and supported others:

• HB 1736 Family life education curriculum guidelines; human reproduction, viewing of ultrasound video.
• HB 2489 Responsible Fatherhood Initiative; fatherhood needs assessment; Fatherhood Support Grants Program.
• HB 2497 Midwifery; administration of medication.
• 292 #1h  Priority for Family Planning Services & Prohibition on Funding for Abortions (Language Only)
• 4-5.04 #2h  Prohibition on Elective Abortion Services at State-funded Hospitals or Medical Centers  (Language Only)
• I also supported several other initiatives to protect preborn babies and support mothers:
  • HB 1488 Abortion; use of public funds prohibited.
  • HB 1795 Abortion; born alive infant, treatment and care, penalty.
  • HB 2278 Abortion; when lawful, 15-week gestational age, exceptions, penalty.
  • HB 2290 Judgment or child support order; pregnancy and delivery expenses.
  • HB 2476 Pregnant women; website that provides available service and programs.
  • HJ 510 Trisomy Awareness Month; designating as March 2023 and each succeeding year

2022 session: I introduced: 

• HB 785 Family life education curriculum guidelines; human reproduction, viewing of ultrasound video.
• HB 937 Family planning services; restrictions on expenditure of funds.
• HB 1349 Abortion; born alive human infant, treatment and care, penalty. (Incorporated into HB 304; passed the House, killed in Senate)

2021 Session: I introduced HB 2241 Unborn child protection from dismemberment abortion; penalties. 

2020 session: I introduced HB 1551 Abortion; fetal dismemberment prohibited, but the Democrat majority refused to even put the bill on a docket for a hearing. A budget amendment I introduced to prohibit Virginia taxpayer funds being used to abort babies which may have disabilities was also defeated on a 52-45 party-line vote.

2019 session: I succeeded in my long-standing effort to prohibit taxpayer-funded disability-selection abortions in Virginia.

2018 Session: I introduced HB 1182 Perinatal hospice and palliative care; notice.

2017 Session: I introduced HB 1473 Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act; penalty.

2016 Session: I introduced HB 963 Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act; penalty. as well as  HB 970 Fetal remains; disposition, penalty.

2015 Session: I introduced HB 2321 Virginia Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act; penalty.

2014 Session: I introduced a budget amendment to stop taxpayer-funded abortions of disabled babies

Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act

First enacted by the state of Nebraska in 2010, the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act is legislation which protects from abortion unborn children who are capable of feeling pain. Substantial medical evidence demonstrates that unborn children are capable of experiencing pain certainly by 20 weeks after fertilization. Under current Virginia law, innocent babies can and are subjected to abortion procedures which cause them to experience an excruciatingly painful death.

 

Read the 2017 Session Virginia Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act here. 

See if your Delegate and Senator signed on as a Co-Patron here.

2016 was the second year I introduced this legislation, and we were able to get the bill out of the Constitutional Law subcommittee, but ran into difficulties in the full Courts of Justice Committee.

I am extremely disappointed that the collective will of our Republican majority did not get behind this effort sufficiently to send it to the Governor to become law.

Going forward, my team will continue to make passing this bill a high priority.

More information:

Constitutionality of the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act -- July, 2013
Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act Factsheet [PDF] - January, 2017
Factsheet: The Pain of the Unborn [PDF] - December, 2016
Doctors on Fetal Pain

 

Pro-Life Laws Protect Mom and Baby: Pregnant Women’s Lives are Protected in All States

Mary E. Harned, J.D. and Ingrid Skop, M.D., FACOG March 7, 2023

In the 22 states with one or more strong laws to protect life that were unenforceable before the decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization,[i] state officials are now either enforcing those laws or are working towards beginning enforcement. Each of these states permits abortion in those rare and heartbreaking circumstances when it is necessary to save the life of a pregnant woman. Physicians can make this determination based on their “reasonable medical judgment,” a standard very common in the medical profession and used for any case involving medical malpractice litigation. Physicians are trained to use their best judgment to care for patients; however, it would be prudent for state medical boards, state medical societies, state boards of pharmacy, hospital quality committees, and hospital attorneys to provide more detailed guidance to doctors on how to reach a determination that abortion is necessary. Tragically, this type of guidance appears slow in coming. Meanwhile, abortion advocates are spreading the dangerous lie that life-saving care is not or may not be permitted in these states, leading to provider confusion and poor outcomes for women.

To assist healthcare providers and dispel the myths being spread by those more concerned with promoting abortion than women’s health, this document discusses miscarriage management, treatment for ectopic pregnancy, and medical conditions that could qualify as life-threatening, permitting abortion under pro-life laws.