Virginia Senate Committee Defeats Pro-Life Legislation Helping Women 
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by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
February 24, 2006
Richmond, VA (LifeNews.com) — A Virginia state Senate committee did what it does almost every year — defeated pro-life legislation that would have helped women and reduced abortions. This time, it turned back bills putting in place commonsense safety regulations at abortion facilities and monitoring the health complications of women who have abortions.
Delegate Bob Marshall’s HB 189 would have required the licensing of abortion businesses.
Any abortion facility that performs more than 25 abortions per were would be required to meet the same standards of any legitimate ambulatory surgery center. The regulations make sure women who suffer from botched abortions can be transported to a hospital in time to save their life.
HB 1274, sponsored by Del. Bill Janis, would have required abortion practitioners to report to the state any treatments given to women who are victims of botched abortions.
"Many other medical procedures are tracked for complications and if the abortion procedure is as safe as claimed by those who run abortion clinics, they should welcome reporting as a way to validate their claim," the Family Foundation said in support of the measure.
Dr. Siobhan Dunnavant, the head of the OB-GYN department at Henrico Doctors Hospital in Richmond supported the bill — but not lawmakers on the Senate panel.
Both measures died on identical 9-6 votes
"They send these things over and they know what will happen," pro-abortion committee chairman Sen. Russ Potts, a Republican, said.
"[E]very year women in Virginia learn more shocking evidence of this committee’s willingness to maintain the lowest possible health care standards for abortion," said Virginia Cobb of the Family Foundation.
"Not only are they unwilling to improve standards, their blind loyalty to Roe even prevents them from approving proposals to collect data to verify the abortion industry’s claim that the procedure is safe," she added.
Related web sites:
Virginia Family Foundation – https://familyfoundation.org
