VIRGINIA, February 18, 2019 (LifeSiteNews) – As political observers predict none of Virginia’s Democrat leaders will resign over the string of scandals to rock the state over the past month, pro-lifers hope to keep the conversation going about embattled Gov. Ralph Northam’s infanticide comments.
In a radio interview last month, Northam had defended a since-tabled bill that would have allowed abortions up to birth by suggesting that in cases of “severe deformities” or a “nonviable” baby, a born-alive “infant would be resuscitated if that’s what the mother and the family desired.” He later said he had no regrets about his words.
Northam’s comments set off a national firestorm, drawing attention to a wave of bills in left-wing states that would codify a “right” to abortion through all nine months and inspiring congressional Republicans to reintroduce legislation mandating care for babies who survive abortions.
Democrats and the abortion lobby rallied to his defense, but abandoned him a few days later when a page from his medical school yearbook surfaced, which showed him wearing blackface or a Ku Klux Klan robe. Northam initially confessed and apologized, but as it became clear Democrats saw him as a liability, he called a press conference claiming neither was him after all.
State and national Democrats broadly called for Northam’s resignation, as did Planned Parenthood. The abortion giant’s CEO Leana Wen issued a statement declaring there was simply “no place for Gov. Ralph Northam’s racist actions or language.” Planned Parenthood Advocates of Virginia Missy Wesolowski agreed that Northam’s “job now is to reflect on his actions and do his part to end the oppression that has plagued our country for far too long. It is time for others to step up and lead.”
Planned Parenthood’s disavowal comes after the abortion giant contributed $1.996 million to Northam’s campaign over a five-year span, Big League Politics reports. This “may suggest why [Northam] gleefully endorsed the Virginia bill that would have made it legal for untrained individuals to perform abortions, and would have legalized the murder of children after their birth,” Big League’s Tom Pappert surmises.
Democrats initially saw ousting Northam as a win-win because he would have been replaced by the equally left-wing (and more politically appealing) Lt. Gov. Justin Farifax. Yet Fairfax soon became the subject of his own scandal when allegations surfaced that he sexually assaulted a woman at the 2004 Democrat National Convention (Fairfax admits to a sexual encounter with the woman, but claims it was consensual).
After that, the third state leader in the gubernatorial line of succession, Attorney General Mark Herring, admitted that he too had worn blackface in the 1980s, which changed Democrats’ political calculations because the next figure in line for the governorship would then be a Republican, House Speaker Kirk Cox.
Last week, the New Yorker’s Charles Bethea spoke to multiple Virginia Democrats who expressed relief that much of the national spotlight has moved on to other issues and expected conversations on what to do about all three men would “take more shape” at an upcoming party meeting. Several indicated that while Fairfax has “no path forward,” Northam and Herring could likely be forgiven.
Also last week, Students for Life of America invited Northam to attend a screening of Gosnell: America’s Biggest Serial Killer at University of Mary Washington. “Based off your clear understanding of medical ethics, we thought you would love to attend this movie,” SFLA president Kristan Hawkins wrote. “Note: When you see [actors] AlfonZo Rachel and Earl Billings, please be aware you are not looking at your medical school yearbook, they are actually African-Americans.”