Virginia State Senate Committee Rejects Three Bills Limiting Abortions 
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by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
February 7, 2008
Richmond, VA (LifeNews.com) — The Senate committee known for turning back pro-life bills did it again on Thursday. The Senate Committee on Education and Health rejected three measures that would have put more limits on abortions in place in the Atlantic coast state.
The panel defeated a measure 10-4 by Republican Senator Mark Obenshain that would have prohibited public schools or employees from doing abortions.
The bill would also have prohibited Planned Parenthood from lecturing on sexual education in public schools in the state because it also does abortions.
Members of the committee defeated two other bills on a 10-5 margin.
The first would have made it a crime to force or coerce a young woman into having an abortion. Under the bill, SB 762, any person who forces or coerces a pregnant female of any age to have an abortion against her will would have been guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor.
The second would have regulated abortion centers as outpatient surgery centers and required them to meet to meet the same health and safety requirements as legitimate medical centers.
SB 437 would have required abortion centers to be licensed by the state.
The bills were rejected on party-line votes and the results don’t bode well for a slate of bills the House of Delegates approved last week.
