Women lined the way to the Virginia General Assembly building to silently protest the house bill that would require a trans-vaginal ultrasound before the state would ‘allow’ her to have an abortion.
The protest yesterday over the personhood bill was NOT silent. Not even close.
The women of Virginia do not plan to go back to the dark ages.
As an aside, is Bob Marshall likening himself to Christ?
Demonstrators lined the pathways leading from the General Assembly Building to the Capitol, cheering Democratic opposition and giving the silent treatment to Republican supporters of the measure. Marshall sidestepped the gantlet, telling a reporter: “Even Christ avoided stonings.”
What a coward! Get out there and face the music, Mr. Marshall. And by the way, you and Jesus Christ have little in common. He was humble, for starters.
When will Elena and Moon shut up about this? When the topic of legal contraception is no longer an issue.
To our contributor gentlemen who might not be familiar with the process, we have both been involved in similar fights for many years. If you blink, you lose. We wish we could assume reproductive rights were guaranteed. Nothing would make us happier.
I loved the woman with her baby in a “wrap”. That is how I carried Rachael! It was like still being pregnant only the baby was ex-uetero!
Some interesting things about HB 461: Del Mark Cole introduced a similar bill HB 261, which was incorporated in HB 462. HB 462 was introduced not by a man but by a woman, Del. Kathy Byron, A Republican from District 22. Delegates from this area, Rich Anderson, Scott Lingamfelter, Bob Marshall and Jackson Miller all voted for HB 462 (as well as HB 1); Luke Torian did not vote on HB 462 or HB 1. As Rachael Maddow pointed out yesterday, Governor Bob McDonnell was personally involved in rewriting HB 462 (I thought he had JD, not an MD). Republicans are attempting to claim they did not know what a “transvaginal sonogram” was. Well, maybe they don’t have access to Google but since the Governor was closeting with a group of men, maybe it is possible. But does anyone believe that Kathy Bryon didn’t know what she was talking about? AYSM?
Yes, Virginia women won, but only a partial victory–there is still a requirement for a mandatory transcutaneous abdominal sonogram and the people behind all of this are still in office. Moon says she wishes “we could all assume reproductive rights were guaranteed”. Well Moon, you know what happens when you divid up the word “assume”–you make an ass out of u and me! So keep on fighting–and there are some men who don’t have any identity issues and who do not want to bully women who will fight right along side you.
@George
I totally agree. Good research on your part. Let’s just call it like it is…they are lying. Rachel Maddow called it out. They knew exactly what it was and it didn’t matter. Furthermore, no sonogram is needed. Women should not be made to jump through hoops to have a legal medical procedure. It isn’t up to the legislator to play doctor or theologian.
Furthermore, and I have evolved into this opinion very recently…I really don’t care what people’s personal opinions are. How many of us always hear abortion publically discussed with a prefix, “I am personally opposed…” I don’t care. Someone’s personal opposition has nothing to do with rule of law. So next time you hear your pre choice legislator..BWWWWAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAH…good luck with that one…..say “but I am personally opposed,” please remind them that personal opinion has nothing to do with abortion rights. I laughted because we have no pro-choice delegates in Prince William County that I am aware of.
George,
I thought she “pulled” the bill and it was not passed inany form. An ultrasound, not transvaginal, in the first trimester shows nothing usually, i.e. the need for transvaginal.
Let me check into this to figure it out!
@Elena
Thanks Elena.
@Elena
The amended HB 462 is still alive and will probably come up for a vote on Monday. My comment that a mandatory abdominal sonogram is premature but it is still a strong possibility.
O.K. George, I guess we have to remain vigilant. I don’t know how they can enforce it though. The ultrasound will NOT show gestational age which is the BS excuse they are using to require this expensive unnessesary medical procedure.
The whole issue is repugnant. These bills are being introduced and supported by those representatives whose usual stance is that “big government” is wrong and that government should stay out of the lives of citizens, yet this one required insertion of the government into a woman’s vajayjay? It’s hypocrisy at its finest.
Twinad is 100% on target in my opinion.
I think the bill’s sponsor tried pulling the bill. I am not sure she can once it passed both houses.
The Governor could easily solver the problem. He could veto it. Is he too chicken footed to do that?
I am embarrassed to be a Virginian. The irony of that statement is, my people came here over 250 years ago, setting up homestead in Albemarle County. How many of the oppressors in the VA General Assembly are Johnny come latelies?
Perhaps we should have a new vanity/special interest license plate that would have no indication that the driver is from Virginia. I have a lot of friends these days who would pay extra for that (although I’m saving my pennies for the new conservation plate with the Eastern Bluebird on it).
@Scout- Too funny! A not-Virginia plate.
@Moon-howler
“The Governor could easily solver the problem. He could veto it. Is he too chicken footed to do that?”
Good point Moon but Hizoner can’t afford any more publicity although I think vetoing the bill would have made a stronger statement that the wimpy effort of trying to explain they didn’t know what a transvaginal ultrasound was. I suspect they could have asked their wives or simply gone to Google. But to ask a woman would never cross their minds and accepting what physicians in the GA had to say was just as unacceptable.
@George,
Or they could have just been liars. They were told by the women of Virginia and the various reproductive groups what they were mandating.
For the life of me, I will never know why men feel they should be cutting women out of the discussion of reproductive rights. Actually, that statement is hyperbole. I do know why. As long as women have limited control over their reproduction, they really have very little power, other than what is given to them by men.
I expect if an equal number of pro choice and anti abortion were thrown into a room and told to solve the problem, it would be solved. I expect everyone could come to a set of social rules regarding abortion that the women could all accept–even the most extreme on each end. Its important for us to remind outselves that there will always be outliers and we should probably not play to those.