2019 began with contentious debate in the Virginia General Assembly over late term abortions, which raged on well after a bill on regulations had been killed in committee. While current law in Virginia already allows for such abortions, it requires that three doctors agree that the mother's life is in jeopardy or that the pregnancy is not viable. Under freshman Delegate Kathy Tran's bill only one doctor would have needed to certify a late term abortion was warranted.
Governor Ralph Northam, a pediatric neurosurgeon, was drawn into the controversy when he spoke on the procedure, saying it is only used in extreme cases in which an infant can not survive the birth. The controversy only grew from there.
