Vote postponed on Va. bill for pre-abortion ultrasounds

UPDATE: Bill passed by Senate

RICHMOND

The Senate postponed action Tuesday on a Republican-backed bill to mandate that women undergo ultrasound imaging before having an abortion as Democrats make a last-ditch effort to soften the legislation.

Sen. Jill Holtzman Vogel agreed to push back the vote on her bill, SB484, at the request of Sen. Ralph Northam, a physician and Norfolk Democrat who is working on an amendment to make the ultrasound optional.

As written, Vogel's bill says pregnant women must undergo an ultrasound and be given an opportunity to view the image prior to an abortion. It also requires abortion providers to keep a copy in the patient's file.

The legislation is a priority for social conservatives and has support from Gov. Bob McDonnell, who called it an "appropriate measure" during a morning radio interview.

Critics say the proposal's underlying goal is to add cost and inconvenience to the process to discourage women from having abortions.

Vogel, R-Fauquier County, downplayed those claims. She said an ultrasound will determine gestational age and ensure that it's safe for women to have the procedure.

Northam is pitching a compromise to require doctors to offer an ultrasound before an abortion but allow a woman to decline it so she wouldn't be "forced to have a procedure against her will."

As Vogel's bill was delayed, another abortion-control measure to limit public funding in certain circumstances cleared a key House of Delegates panel.

Legislation from Del. Mark Cole would repeal state subsidies for poor women to abort fetuses with serious birth defects.

Three Virginia women testified against the bill Tuesday. Each spoke of gut-wrenching decisions to terminate medically perilous pregnancies.

But that emotional testimony didn't change the minds of many on the House Health, Welfare and Institutions Committee, which voted 12-9 to send Cole's bill to the House floor.

The legislation would eliminate state financial support for abortion when a doctor believes an unborn child "would be born with a gross and totally incapacitating physical deformity or mental deficiency."

Last year, 10 abortions qualified for support under those circumstances. Virginia spent roughly $2,800, an amount based on what the state was billed rather than the actual cost of care.

The year before, 23 abortions qualified and the state spent about $14,700.

Cole, R-Spotsylvania County, has said his bill, HB62, would make Virginia law consistent with federal code.

That appears to be a reference to the Hyde Amendment, a long-standing federal policy restricting public funding of abortion except in cases of rape, incest or if a mother's life is endangered.

Currently, Cole told the committee, taxpayers who believe abortion is morally wrong "are being forced to pay for it."

State law provides funding for abortions in cases such as rape, incest and for fetuses that a doctor says would be born greatly incapacitated.

Among those asking lawmakers to reject Cole's bill was Tara Schleifer, a Haymarket woman who decided to terminate a pregnancy after prenatal testing revealed fetal heart defects and chromosomal abnormalities that would cause mental disability.

"Each family follows their own conscience," Schleifer told lawmakers, saying those choices should "remain personal, private, family and medical provider decisions."

Other women who aborted pregnancies for medical reasons said their out-of-pocket costs after insurance were thousands of dollars, a sum they suggested poor women can't afford.

And they questioned whether Virginia will bear the future medical costs for care of disabled children born to poor mothers who otherwise would terminate a pregnancy.

Del. Mark Sickles, D-Fairfax County, denounced Cole's bill, calling it "profoundly disturbing."

"It takes my breath away that we would do this," he added.

Before advancing the bill, the committee rejected a motion to send the legislation to the House Appropriations Committee for further evaluation of its potential long-term impact on state finances.

Julian Walker, 804-697-1564, julian.walker@pilotonline.com