The proposed Virginia law that would mandate vaginal ultrasound probe pre abortion resulted in a furor, that's having a salutary effect.
Yesterdays’ silent protest of over a thousand women who stared down their representatives walking through the gauntlet to the State House coincided with the vote being put off that day.
But the Virginia House has also put off ultrasound bill again today:
http://maddowblog.msnbc.msn.com/...
The move came as a public outcry to bills restricting abortion has prompted some lawmakers to hint they may soften the ultrasound bills.
Two legislators -- one a conservative Republican -- speaking today on the condition of anonymity said one idea officials have discussed is making the ultrasound legislation optional rather than mandatory.
Other options are to pass the bills by or park them in committee. Either of those moves could effectively shelve the legislation for the year.
Over a thousand women (and men) looked their Republican representatives in the eye yesterday, and the Republicans
blinked.
http://hamptonroads.com/...
The Virginia House of Delegates again today decided to put off voting on the Senate's version of a bill to require women seeking an abortion to first undergo medically unnecessary transvaginal ultrasounds. They also let the vote "pass by" yesterday, with a more than a thousand demonstrators lined up in a silent protest outside.
Democratic Delegate David Englin writes:
Quick update on Va. GOP's vaginal penetration ultrasound mandate: The Senate version of the bill (Senate Bill 484) was scheduled for debate and final vote today, but House Republicans again made a motion to push off the debate and vote by another day. The same happened for Senate Bill 349, the so-called "conscience clause" bill that allows state-funded adoption and foster care agencies to discriminate against GLBT families and youth.
House Democrats then attempted a parliamentary maneuver that would have killed the ultrasound bill forever, but that failed on a party-line vote. Therefore, both bills are now scheduled for debate and vote tomorrow.
Virginia Republicans are suddenly running scared of their own social agenda!
http://maddowblog.msnbc.msn.com/...
UPDATE:
The move came as a public outcry to bills restricting abortion has prompted some lawmakers to hint they may soften the ultrasound bills.
Two legislators -- one a conservative Republican -- speaking today on the condition of anonymity said one idea officials have discussed is making the ultrasound legislation optional rather than mandatory.
Other options are to pass the bills by or park them in committee. Either of those moves could effectively shelve the legislation for the year.
The ultrasound bill, SB484, introduced by Sen. Jill Vogel, R-Fauquier, passed the Senate 21-19 last week, largely with Republican votes.
A request by Republicans by delay the House vote for a day was contested by Del. David J. Toscano, D-Charlottesville, who instead asked the House to pass by the bill indefinitely. Technically, Toscano’s motion would not have derailed the bill, which could have been resurrected by the House’s Republican majority, but would have taken it off the calendar.
Toscano’s motion failed on a 68-32 vote after Speaker William J. Howell, R-Stafford, urged Republicans to vote no.
The brief debate was one-sided, as Del. Charniele Herring, D-Alexandria, chastised Republicans for supporting a bill that would require a majority of women having abortions to submit to having a probe inserted into their vagina.
“The national conversation about Virginia is about whether a vaginal probe is a mandatory requirement before a woman exercises her constitutional right,” she said. “It is time to end the shame that has been brought to this state by this bill.”
Republicans did not chose to defend the bill on the House floor.
Prior to the motion, Del. Lionel Spruill, D-Chesapeake, gave an impassioned speech, in which he said Vogel’s bill would “force what I consider a legal rape with an ultra sound probe.”
“I don’t know all of you well, but I know some of you well, and I am deeply disappointed in you,” he said. “I cannot believe that you would disrespect women and mothers in such a way. This legislation is simply mean spirited and it is bullying, bullying women simply because you can.”
http://hamptonroads.com/...
UPDATE2:
Unfortunately, Texas already has legislated the transvaginal probe as a qualification for abortion, and there's no indication they're considering pulling back.
http://www.dailykos.com/...