Saturday, February 25, 2012
Senate denies ultrasound bill
But a very similar bill will likely pass the Senate on Monday, a Democratic senator said.
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From The Roanoke Times
NORFOLK — The Virginia Senate on Friday struck down a bill that would have required a woman to have an ultrasound before having an abortion, but Democrats said it was almost surely a short-lived victory.
Sen. Ralph Northam, D-Norfolk, said most Democrats believe an identical ultrasound bill, HB 462, sponsored by Del. Kathy Byron, R-Campbell County, likely will pass the Senate on Monday with unanimous Republican support.
"They appear to have the votes," Northam said.
Sen. Jill Vogel, R-Fauquier County, made good on a pledge she made Wednesday and asked that her ultrasound bill, SB 484, be stricken when it came up for a vote Friday. The Senate agreed, with no debate. Vogel said earlier in the week that opponents had raised enough concerns to persuade her to pull the bill.
However, Northam said he believes Vogel will vote for Byron's bill and that two Democrats are also likely to cross party lines and vote for the bill.
Vogel declined to comment after Friday's Senate session, but in a statement placed on her website Thursday, she appeared to hint that she would vote for HB 462. "It is certainly my hope that the real mission of the legislation will be fulfilled in that final bill," she wrote of Byron's legislation.
Vogel added, "It was never my intent to force a woman to have a vaginal screening against her will, only to ensure that women seeking abortions are fully informed and that current state-of-the-art safety procedures are followed."
As originally drafted, both bills would have required many women in the early stages of pregnancy to undergo an ultrasound in which a probe is inserted into the vagina. Transvaginal ultrasounds are part of "the standard of care" at Planned Parenthood for women in the early stages of pregnancy, a spokeswoman for that organization said earlier this week.
Although that kind of test wasn't specifically mentioned in either bill, both required ultrasounds that create an image "that accurately portray the presence of external members and internal organs of the fetus, if present or viewable." In the early stages of pregnancy, when most abortions occur, only a transvaginal ultrasound can produce that kind of image.
After a public outcry, including much national publicity, Gov. Bob McDonnell asked that both bills be amended to require only transabdominal, or external, ultrasounds.
Speaking in Washington on Friday, McDonnell said he supports HB 462 and that the bill has been misrepresented by opponents. He said the bill was amended because he was advised by legal experts that "it might run afoul of Fourth Amendment law," which protects people from unreasonable searches.
"There's been so much misinformation on this," he told The Associated Press. "There has been so much undue attention. This is a strong pro-life bill."
Supporters of the ultrasound requirement defend it as a measure to protect women's health and ensure that women are fully informed before having an abortion.
Seven states — Alabama, Arizona, Florida, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas — have mandatory ultrasound laws, according to Elizabeth Nash of the Guttmacher Institute, which researches abortion issues and favors abortion rights. Only Texas law requires a vaginal ultrasound, she said.
HB 462 was largely revised this week by Del. David Albo, R-Fairfax County, and McDonnell's staff.
Northam said the bill "would force women to have a test that will cost them hundreds of dollars and show absolutely nothing."
If passed by the Senate, HB 462 would go back to the House, where it passed 63-36 on a largely party-line vote, with Republicans in the majority.
