The Info About Former Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam's 2019 Abortion Remarks

Through the first presidential debate of the 2024 presidential cycle, former U.S. President Donald Trump referenced a declare that he had unfold earlier than relating to former Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam and his stance on abortions.

“The issue they’ve is that they’re radical, as a result of they’ll take the life of a kid within the eighth month, the ninth month, and even after start – after start,” Trump said throughout the debate. “For those who take a look at the previous governor of Virginia, he was keen to do that. He mentioned, we’ll put the newborn apart and we’ll decide what we do with the newborn. Which means, we’ll kill the newborn.”

Within the aftermath of the talk, we discovered that the declare unfold on social media platforms like X, Facebook and TikTok:

We beforehand fact-checked this declare in 2019, discovering it was largely false. Once we printed that fact-check, we despatched a listing of detailed inquiries to Northam’s workplace however didn’t obtain a response in time for publication. 

Northam was requested throughout an look on a Washington, D.C., radio program whether or not he supported proposals a Virginia delegate had introduced ahead regarding the lessening of authorized restrictions on second- and third-trimester abortions. The next is a transcript of the related alternate, which might be watched within the video embedded beneath:

Julie Carey: … There was a really contentious committee listening to yesterday when Fairfax County Delegate Kathy Tran made her case for lifting restrictions on third-trimester abortions, in addition to different restrictions now in place. And she or he was pressed by a Republican delegate about whether or not her invoice would allow an abortion whilst a lady is, basically, dilating, prepared to provide start. And she or he answered that it will allow an abortion at that stage of labor. Do you help her measure? And clarify her reply.

Ralph Northam: You already know, I wasn’t there, Julie, and I actually cannot converse for Delegate Tran, however I might let you know — one, the very first thing I might say, that is why selections similar to this must be made by [healthcare] suppliers, physicians, and the moms and dads which might be concerned. Once we discuss third-trimester abortions, these are completed with the consent of, clearly, the mom, with the consent of the physicians — a couple of doctor, by the best way. And it is completed in instances the place there could also be extreme deformities. There could also be a fetus that is non-viable.

So on this explicit instance, if a mom is in labor, I can let you know precisely what would occur. The toddler could be delivered. The toddler could be saved snug. The toddler could be resuscitated if that is what the mom and the household desired, after which a dialogue would ensue between the physicians and the mom.

So I believe this was actually blown out of proportion, however once more, we would like the federal government to not be concerned in a majority of these selections. And that is why, Julie, legislators — most of that are males, by the best way — should not be telling a lady what she ought to and should not be doing along with her physique.

On the time, we wrote Northam’s remarks prompted a right away backlash, with some right-leaning and pro-life observers claiming that he had expressed support for infanticide. Trump additional unfold the declare in his 2019 State of the Union address.

Vox quoted a spokesperson for Northam as saying that the governor’s feedback have been “completely not” a reference to infanticide however somewhat “centered on the tragic and intensely uncommon case during which a lady with a nonviable being pregnant or extreme abnormalities went into labor.” In response to NBC News, a spokesperson for Northam “disputed [President Trump’s] characterization” of his feedback however didn’t present any additional clarifying particulars.

In any case, it is clear Northam did not say he supported executing or killing infants throughout the interview. He as a substitute as a substitute described eventualities the place a third-trimester abortion would happen and confused that he did not imagine it is a resolution the federal government must be concerned in. As such, we charge this declare as “False.”

To get extra fact-checks of what Biden and Trump mentioned throughout the June 2024 presidential debate, here is Snopes’ real-time protection. 

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