FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: September 11, 2013
Contact: Mallory Quigley, 703-380-6674
Terry McAuliffe Opposed Law to Ensure Justice for Women & Unborn Victims of Violence
WASHINGTON, D.C. – John Andrew Welden, a Florida man who tricked his girlfriend into taking the abortion drug misoprostol, pled guilty yesterday after being indicted under the federal Unborn Victims of Violence Act (UVVA). Otherwise known as Laci and Conner’s Law in reference to the 2002 Scott Peterson case, the UVVA was passed by wide margins in Congress and signed into law by President Bush in 2004. The plea in this case is welcome news given the horrendous impact of this forced abortion on Remee Jo Lee, who had greeted her pregnancy “as a new life for her.”
Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the Susan B. Anthony List, noted that UVVA is the law in 36 states and on federal installations. “We pray today for Ms. Lee in the midst of the hardship and pain she has endured as a result of this crime. We are thankful that a federal law existed that made this plea possible where Florida has refused to provide such protection to date.”
Dannenfelser also noted the impact of delays and opposition to these sensible statutes that protect women and the children they carry. “Our memories should not be so short that we forget that this specific protection was vehemently opposed by Terry McAuliffe while he was chairman of the Democratic National Committee. This is exactly what opposition to ‘any and all efforts’ to recognize the lives at stake here means in practice.
“If Terry McAuliffe had had his way, John Andrew Welden might never have accepted his responsibility,” said Susan B. Anthony List president Marjorie Dannenfelser. “McAuliffe is so dedicated to the ideology of abortion without limits that he cannot imagine women like Remee Lee whose lives and well-being are at the heart of this debate. Terry McAuliffe claims to be an advocate for women, but he opposed the simple law that has delivered justice for Remee and her baby.”
The Unborn Victims of Violence Act was opposed not only by the Democratic National Committee, but also by NARAL Pro-Choice America and by Planned Parenthood.
The SBA List and its affiliated Political Action Committees are dedicated to pursuing policies and electing candidates who will reduce and ultimately end abortion. To that end, the SBA List emphasizes the education, promotion, mobilization, and election of pro-life women. The SBA List is a network of more than 365,000 pro-life Americans nationwide.
###
