Social conservatives emboldened by Republican gains in the General Assembly in November suffered a major setback Thursday when a Senate committee deadlocked on a bill to prohibit women from having an abortion beyond 20 weeks of pregnancy.
But today, the House of Delegates appears ready to pass a bill to defund state-paid abortions for low-income women expecting a child with “gross and totally incapacitating physical deformity or mental deficiency” after the chamber advanced the measure Thursday.
The vote was 7-7 on Senate Bill 637 sponsored by Sen. Mark D. Obenshain, R-Harrisonburg. Republicans hold an 8-7 majority on the committee, but Sen. Harry B. Blevins, R-Chesapeake, abstained, deadlocking the measure.
After the vote, Blevins said he was moved by the wrenching testimony of Tara Schleifer, a mother from Haymarket in Prince William County. She tearfully described ending a pregnancy in its second trimester after learning the fetus had congenital heart and bowel defects that would translate to debilitating pain and suffering as a child.
“I would rather have died than do this to my baby,” said Schleifer, who brought her 3-year-old son to the proceedings.
She said the bill prohibiting abortions after 20 weeks would give families virtually no time to decide whether they need more testing to determine the viability of the fetus.
“It was just traumatic for me to sit there and think about what that woman was going through and not give her any consideration,” Blevins said.
The vote came after conflicting testimony over at what point during gestation a fetus can feel pain. The proposed 20-week limit was predicated on the assumption that fetuses can feel pain beyond 20 weeks, but other citations suggest that does not occur until at least 24 weeks, or roughly the beginning of the third trimester.
In Virginia, abortions are permitted up to a physician’s determination of viability, typically 24 to 25 weeks at the end of the second trimester.
The tie vote, stalling the bill, is a blow for abortion opponents and Republicans who on Wednesday advanced legislation through the full Senate that would require women seeking an abortion to first have an ultrasound.
“It is unfortunate that by one vote, pain-capable unborn children will continue to suffer the horrific death caused them by abortion,” said Olivia Gans, president of the Virginia Society for Human Life.
Is this woman being deliberately obtuse? Does she not understand that the abortions being discussed were for fetuses with profound abnormalities, very often conditions that would be horribly painful post birth? We treat our animals better than humans if this is the mentality that is being used. Most of us would never give birth knowingly to a child who would suffer horrible pain during the course of its life.
The backlash from this war waged by some of the social conservatives is going to be terrific. It needs to be. Warnings from the reproductive rights activists were going unheeded. This daily attack is the end result. It needed to happen to shake the pro-choice community off its apathy.
SB637 was stalled but will probably reappear since a similar bill is coming through the delegate assembly and will probably end up in the same committee. Senator Blevins is to be commended for his careful consideration of an issue that is incredibly painful for women and couples who must consider the termination of a very wanted pregnancy because of severe abnormalities. Tara Schleifer of Haymarket is a hero for her brave, painful testimony before this group. It had to be difficult as she spoke through her tears. Often people who step up and do the right thing subject themselves to harassment by zealots. I sincerely hope that does not happen to this brave woman.
HB 67 should come out of the gate at a fast pace. That bill is a state funding bill. Currently poor women who have been victims of rape or incest can have state funded abortions.
The House of Delegates advanced House Bill 62, introduced by Del. Mark L. Cole, R-Spotsylvania. The measure would repeal a section of state code authorizing the Board of Health to fund abortions in cases of gross incapacity and deformity for women on medical assistance.
The Virginia Department of Health approved funding of 23 abortions in fiscal 2010 with a total cost of $14,681, according to a fiscal impact statement attached to the bill. In fiscal 2011, the department approved funding for 10 abortions for a total cost of $2,784.
Cole said the bill conforms Virginia Medicaid law to federal law by incorporating the Hyde Amendment, a federal provision — named for former Rep. Henry Hyde of Illinois — that bars the use of tax dollars to pay for abortions in circumstances other than rape, incest or threat to the mother’s life.
Democrats argued against the measure for the impact it could have on women with no financial means.
“Think about the human beings behind this,” said Del. Vivian E. Watts, D-Fairfax, pointing to the “tremendous burden borne by someone on Medicaid” if her child is born in such a condition.
As of Friday afternoon, HB67 passed the House of Delegates. NARAL Pro-Choice Virginia released the following:
“No woman plans to have an abortion, but if she needs one, every woman deserves the opportunity to make the best decision for her circumstances. Women and their families should have access to safe and affordable health services, especially in a medical crisis despite her financial circumstances,” said Keene. “Virginia is a Commonwealth which by definition should seek to care for the most vulnerable among us during their most difficult times. The Commonwealth has failed women today.”
Hopefully there will be private funds available. The anti-choice crowd always over-reaches. Keep going. The sleeping giant is awakening. The women of Virginia won’t go back because of fools who simply refuse to look at the complexities of life outside of a binary operation. All in life is not good or bad. Sometimes as humans we have to weigh our choices, like Tara Schleifer did. Surely that was not a decision she wanted to have to make.
It’s frightening what’s going on in Richmond.
Of all the problems this state faces, one has to wonder why this is such a high priority for this legislature.