Posts distort former Virginia governor’s comments on third trimester abortions

CLAIM: A video shows Virginia Governor Ralph Northam during a 2019 radio interview speaking in support of infanticide, or “after-birth abortions.”

AP’S ASSESSMENT: False. Northam was giving a hypothetical example of what could happen if a mother whose fetus had severe deformities, or wasn’t otherwise viable, requested an abortion while in labor. His comments came in response to a question about whether he supported state legislation that would have loosened restrictions on abortions later in pregnancy. Experts told The Associated Press that abortions in the third trimester are extremely rare.

THE FACTS: Social media users are misrepresenting years old comments Northam made about abortion in Virginia on WTOP, a news radio station serving the Washington Metropolitan area.

“If a mother is in labor, I can tell you exactly what would happen,” Northam says in a video from the 2019 interview being shared online. “The infant would be delivered, the infant would be kept comfortable, the infant would be resuscitated if that’s what the mother and the family desired. And then a discussion would ensue between the physicians and the mother.”

One X post reads: “Trump just posted this video of former VA Governor Ralph Northam supporting ‘post-birth abortions’ aka infanticide. He’s going to go on offense on abortion this election and make Dems defend their extreme, wildly unpopular positions.” It had received more than 6,000 likes and shares as of Thursday.

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Many posts on multiple platforms quote Northam before stating: “In other words, the Baby would be executed after birth! ALWAYS REMEMBER - THE DEMOCRATS ARE THE RADICALS ON ABORTION.”

But Northam was only addressing what happens in cases where a baby is born with severe deformities and has a low chance of survival.

His comments were part of a response to a question about whether he supported a bill proposed in 2019 by Virginia House Del. Kathy Tran, which would have loosened the state’s restrictions on abortion later in pregnancy, including the third trimester.

Republican Del. Todd Gilbert had recently asked Tran, a Democrat, during a committee hearing whether her legislation would let a pregnant woman who is dilating request an abortion if a doctor certified that the woman’s mental health was impaired.

“My bill would allow that, yes,” Tran said in response. She later told The Washington Post that she “misspoke” and that she should have said “clearly, no, because infanticide is not allowed in Virginia, and what would have happened in that moment would be a live birth.”

In his full answer on WTOP, Northam explains that third trimester abortions are “done in cases where there may be severe deformities, there may be a fetus that’s nonviable.” He then gives the hypothetical example about a mother in labor.

Ofirah Yheskel, a then-spokesperson for Northam, said at the time that he was only trying to describe the “tragic or difficult circumstances” often involved in late-term abortion.

“Attempts to extrapolate these comments otherwise is in bad faith and underscores exactly why the governor believes physicians and women, not legislators, should make these difficult and deeply personal medical decisions,” she said.

Abortions later in pregnancy are incredibly rare. In 2021, approximately 93% of abortions in the U.S. occurred at or before 13 weeks’ gestation, while only 0.9% occurred at 21 weeks or later, according to the latest available data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Nearly 45% were at or before six weeks gestation.

Experts told the AP that it is not physically possible to perform an abortion later in pregnancy if a woman has already gone into labor naturally.

“Patients who are laboring at term are never having an abortion,” said Sarah Prager, a professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Washington. “They are having a delivery.”

Parents whose babies are born with a low probability of survival then make decisions about whether to provide palliative care or to take extraordinary measures to save them.

Only six states — Oregon, Colorado, New Mexico, New Jersey, Vermont and Maine — have no restrictions on when abortion can occur during a pregnancy.

Experts say that there is technically no legal mechanism in these states to stop physicians from performing an abortion on a healthy, full-term pregnancy. However, they explained that because it is difficult to craft policies that cover every situation in which a woman might need an abortion, this flexibility allows physicians and patients to make decisions on a case-by-case basis.

There are many reasons patients might seek an abortion later in pregnancy, including a catastrophic fetal diagnosis and risks to their own health.

Amy Nelson, an OB-GYN in Virginia, said that it is unlikely any ethical doctor would agree to perform an abortion simply because a woman changed her mind about an entirely healthy pregnancy late in the game, even if it is legally permissible.

“Ethics would get involved more than anything else,” she explained.

Even in states with few to no restrictions on abortions, there are other mechanisms to ensure appropriate decisions are made.

“The truth is that all physicians in the United States are bound by medical ethics and standards, state law, federal law, and the bylaws of their professional medical associations,” said Jamila Perritt, an OB-GYN in Washington, D.C. and the president and CEO of the advocacy organization Physicians for Reproductive Health.

Kristyn Brandi, an OB-GYN in New Jersey who provides abortions later in pregnancy, said that she “not worried about not having a limit because I know that I trust my patients to make decisions that are best for them.” She added that she has never met anyone “who just kind of woke up one day and decided that they didn’t want to be pregnant.”
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This is part of the AP’s effort to address widely shared false and misleading information that is circulating online. Learn more about fact-checking at AP.