Activists battle over Virginia bill that would recognize fetuses as carpool passengers

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A recent Virginia bill that would recognize a fetus as a person in carpool lanes was praised by pro-life advocates for supporting pregnant mothers.

But some pro-abortion activists and journalists on Twitter pushed back on the bill as "stupid" and standing on claims of "personhood" for the unborn. 

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Some abortion activists argued against the "personhood" of the unborn after a Virginia bill was proposed that would recognize a fetus a person in carpool lanes. (Getty Images )

"Everything is so acutely stupid these days," former NBC journalist Craig Calcaterra tweeted in response to the news. 

Rewire News Group senior editor Imani Gandy called attention to the debate over personhood, citing the original Roe v. Wade decision before it was struck down by the Supreme Court in June 2022. 

"In Roe v. Wade, one of the reasons the Supreme Court rejected Texas's personhood claim is because the state hadn't been ACTING as if fetuses are people. ENTER VIRGINIA, 50 YEARS LATER: Virginia bill would count a fetus as a car passenger in HOV lanes."

The bill itself, which is unlikely to pass in Virginia’s divided House and Senate, would consider pregnant women "two people for the purposes of determining occupancy" when driving in high occupancy toll lanes throughout the state. 

Denise Harle, Senior Counsel and Director of the Center for Life with Alliance Defending Freedom defended the bill in a statement to Fox News Digital. 

"While some states are pushing an extreme pro-abortion agenda that aligns with North Korea’s and China’s inhumane laws, other states are actively searching for ways to defend the humanity of the unborn and support pregnant mothers," Harle said.

She continued: "An unborn baby’s heart beats at just 6 weeks after conception; at 8 weeks, she has fingers and toes; and at 10 weeks, she has her own fingerprints. This Virginia bill recognizes the reality that unborn children are separate, living, unique human beings."

Director of the Center for Life with Alliance Defending Freedom told Fox News Digital that the Virginia bill recognizes the reality of "unborn children" as "separate, living, unique human beings." (Photo by Joshua Comins/Fox News)

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But NBC News framed the Virginia bill as an "attempt by anti-abortion Republicans to cut away at abortion rights by pushing ‘personhood’ laws."

One law professor agreed with that assessment, telling Fox News Digital in an interview that while the Virginia fetus bill would not have automatic legal implications, it does help strengthen the "personhood" argument against abortion.  

The bill is an attempt "to create this idea in people’s minds that a fetus is actually a person with its own separate legal identity," Case Western Reserve University law professor Jessie Hill said.

The "personhood" debate will raise a whole slew of new legal issues beyond just abortion," law professor Jessie Hill told Fox News Digital.  (Jerry Holt/Star Tribune)

But Prof. Hill, who specializes in "reproductive rights," according to her official profile, emphasized that the battle over personhood was distinct from an actual change in the law. 

"The fact that the state might say that a pregnant woman can use the carpool lane doesn’t mean that a fetus is a person for other legal purposes." 

"It doesn’t have implications for the state’s abortion laws automatically," Hill explained. 

"On the other hand," she said, "the symbolic effect of this [bill] is not meaningless. It can be important because as laws like this start to pile up" it can create a "body of evidence" that becomes harder and harder for state governments to ignore.

The Supreme Court struck down Roe v. Wade in June 2022. (Dana Verkouteren via AP)

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That evidence might strengthen the case for pro-life activists who believe that abortion is wrong because a fetus is treated as a person in "all these different areas of life," Prof. Hill added.

Prof. Hill also predicted that personhood will raise questions about "in-vitro fertilization," "birth control," "inheritance" and even "apportionment for voting." 

"Once you start to go down this personhood path, which is really the next frontier in a lot of ways, it’s going to raise a whole slew of new legal issues beyond just abortion." 

Virginia's HB 1894 would require mothers to apply for "proof of pregnancy" with the Transportation Department. That info could then be applied to a toll collection device, such as an E-Z Pass. 

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Fox News’ Sophia Slacik contributed to this report.