On Wednesday’s episode of “The Andrew Klavan Show,” host Andrew Klavan discusses the disturbing way in which the Left rationalizes abortions, even up to the point of birth. Transcript and video below.
Now the Democrats in Virginia’s House of Delegates have introduced a bill that is called the “Repeal Act” because it would remove all existing restrictions on abortion in Virginia, and that includes permitting abortion in the last three months of pregnancy, eliminating informed consent — so even young people can get abortions — and clinic safety requirements. Basically, as a lot of the people who were involved in the movie “Gosnell” — which I supplied the screenplay for — a lot of people are saying “Gosnell who was convicted as a serial killer would basically now be Surgeon General of these states because everything he did turns out now will be legal in New York,” and now they’re trying to make it legal in Virginia.
This permits late-term abortions to be performed in outpatient clinics and removes pro-life initiatives such as ultrasound requirements because you wouldn’t want to look at the baby before you exterminate it, and this has got the support of Virginia’s Democratic Governor Ralph Northam. So here is Democrat delegate Kathy Tran being questioned about the bill. You gotta listen to this, I mean listen to every word of this as she kind of dodges and ducks but ultimately has to admit the truth:
Let me put this into the simplest terms I can: This is the difference between materialism and non-materialism — I’m not even talking about Christianity, I’m talking about some kind of idea of spiritual truth, some kind of idea of moral truth. If I strangle a child, an innocent child, or if I give a beggar bread, do those acts have different qualities? Do they have different moral qualities? And if they do, where does that morality exist? Okay, is there someplace that is not this place, that is not made of flesh, that is not made of clay or wood or material where that goodness or badness exists? Or the only other option, because this is the only other option, is that it’s just kind of an opinion, that we have a feeling that strangling an innocent child is maybe not so good, and giving a beggar bread is kind of nice.
If we lived on a planet — which we soon will if the Democrats continue this — if we lived on a planet where strangling an innocent child was a sport and everybody loved it and it was really fun, would it then be okay because there was no one there to say it wasn’t right? If everybody just said “this is great” — maybe the child who gets strangled didn’t think so but he was outvoted — would it be okay? Or do we believe, and I believe all of us actually believe this, that it is inherently bad? And if it’s bad, where does that badness exist? What I say is that there is an immaterial realm. It is not supernatural, it is not supernatural. To say that two plus two equals four is true whether you say it or not. It is instantiated, it becomes real, when you take two pennies and two pennies and put them together and they make four. But somewhere, perhaps in the mind of God, two plus two equals four whether you have those two pennies or not.
Video and full transcript below:
Now the Democrats in Virginia’s House of Delegates have introduced a bill that is called the “Repeal Act” because it would remove all existing restrictions on abortion in Virginia, and that includes permitting abortion in the last three months of pregnancy, eliminating informed consent — so even young people can get abortions — and clinic safety requirements. Basically, as a lot of the people who were involved in the movie “Gosnell” — which I supplied the screenplay for — a lot of people are saying “Gosnell who was convicted as a serial killer would basically now be Surgeon General of these states because everything he did turns out now will be legal in New York,” and now they’re trying to make it legal in Virginia.
This permits late-term abortions to be performed in outpatient clinics and removes pro-life initiatives such as ultrasound requirements because you wouldn’t want to look at the baby before you exterminate it, and this has got the support of Virginia’s Democratic Governor Ralph Northam. So here is Democrat delegate Kathy Tran being questioned about the bill. You gotta listen to this, I mean listen to every word of this as she kind of dodges and ducks but ultimately has to admit the truth:
Delegate Gilbert: So how late in the third trimester would you be able to do that?”
Delegate Tran: “You know, it’s very unfortunate that our physicians witnesses were not able to attend today to speak specifically –“
Gilbert: “I’m talking about your bill. How late in the third trimester could a physician perform an abortion if he indicated it would impair the mental health of the woman?”
Tran: “Or physical health.”
Gilbert: “Okay, okay. I’m talking about the mental health.”
Tran: “So I mean, through the third trimester. The third trimester goes all the way up to 40 weeks.
Gilbert: “Okay, but to the end of the third trimester?
Tran: “Yep, I don’t think we have a limit in the bill.
Gilbert: “So, where it’s obvious that a woman is about to give birth, she has physical signs of that, she is about to give birth, would that still be a point at which she could request an abortion if she was so certified?”
Tran: “Mr. Chairman, that would be a, you know, a decision that the doctor, the physician and the woman would make at that point.”
Gilbert: “I understand that, I’m asking if your bill allows that.”
Tran: “My bill would allow that, yes.”
So that’s infanticide, right? That’s killing. I mean there’s no difference between a baby during labor and a baby after labor, after it’s been born, there’s no difference there whatsoever. That’s in keeping with the left’s underlying philosophy. I’ve always said this, that underlying philosophies eventually come out and they eventually hold sway, that every philosophy basically takes itself to its ultimate conclusion, and that’s why it’s very important that you vet your own ideas and that the political parties vet their ideas and that you vet your political party’s ideas, because they may sound good in that moment but actually it is the underlying idea that will always hold sway and always win out. The underlying idea of leftism and of Marxism has always been materialism
Let me put this into the simplest terms I can: This is the difference between materialism and non-materialism — I’m not even talking about Christianity, I’m talking about some kind of idea of spiritual truth, some kind of idea of moral truth. If I strangle a child, an innocent child, or if I give a beggar bread, do those acts have different qualities? Do they have different moral qualities? And if they do, where does that morality exist? Okay, is there someplace that is not this place, that is not made of flesh, that is not made of clay or wood or material where that goodness or badness exists? Or the only other option, because this is the only other option, is that it’s just kind of an opinion, that we have a feeling that strangling an innocent child is maybe not so good, and giving a beggar bread is kind of nice.
If we lived on a planet — which we soon will if the Democrats continue this — if we lived on a planet where strangling an innocent child was a sport and everybody loved it and it was really fun, would it then be okay because there was no one there to say it wasn’t right? If everybody just said “this is great” — maybe the child who gets strangled didn’t think so but he was outvoted — would it be okay? Or do we believe, and I believe all of us actually believe this, that it is inherently bad? And if it’s bad, where does that badness exist? What I say is that there is an immaterial realm. It is not supernatural, it is not supernatural. To say that two plus two equals four is true whether you say it or not. It is instantiated, it becomes real, when you take two pennies and two pennies and put them together and they make four. But somewhere, perhaps in the mind of God, two plus two equals four whether you have those two pennies or not.
The same thing is true about morality. The moral world exists, and it must exist in some kind of consciousness. I think you can’t get away from God. This is one of the central reasons I converted, you cannot get away from the concept of God once you believe that there is a moral universe. In my opinion, only the Marquis de Sade — who said basically since there is no God there is no morality why don’t we just torture each other for pleasure — only he made sense as an atheist as far as I’m concerned.
