Virginia Advances Personhood Bill
On Monday Virginia’s House of Delegates advanced a personhood measure, 66-32, to assign full legal rights to fertilized eggs, and declare life begins at conception. This personhood measure is particularly disconcerting because the unique approach circumvents the issues encountered by other anti-choice states that previously failed. Unlike Colorado and Mississippi, Virginia’s extreme personhood movement is not pushing a constitutional amendment, instead proposing multiple changes to the existing legal code.
Introduced by far-right Delegate Bob Marshall, HB1 states, “The life of each human being begins at conception…[and] unborn children have protectable interests in life, health, and well-being.” Personhood USA supporters are not fully behind Marshall’s extreme bill because the language specifically prohibits HB1 from conflicting with current state or federal choice laws. Dedicated Personhood USA extremists take issue with the bill stipulation that notes HB1 is, “subject only to the Constitution of the United States and decisional interpretations thereof by the United States Supreme Court and specific provisions to the contrary in the statutes and constitution of this Commonwealth,” deeming the legislation symbolic and not ‘actionable.’
Semantics aside, choice advocates are rightly concerned with the bill’s progress, as Virginia is now the third state, alongside North Dakota and Alabama, to advance personhood legislation beyond the lower chamber. A Republican majority controls Virginia’s state senate, and proponents of choice fear the personhood initiative stands a chance in the upper chamber. Virginia’s anti-choice Governor McDonnell has yet to take a stance on the extreme bill.
