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Category: Readers' Opinions

■ 07 February 2012 | 5:00 AM

Mean-spirited bill

Re 'Pre-abortion ultrasound: Too invasive,' front page, Feb. 3: Del. Mark Cole may have introduced the most mean-spirited bill in the General Assembly. Currently, federal law requires Virginia to provide funds to poor women for abortions in cases of rape, incest and danger to the woman's health. Virginia also pays for an abortion if the child is likely to be born with a totally incapacitating physical or mental deformity.

Cole's bill would eliminate funds for the latter category. Last year Virginia spent less than $2,800 on these abortions, so Cole is not doing this to save money; he is imposing his values on the women of Virginia.

David Grochmal

Virginia Beach

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Setting aside your and my views....

Submitted by James King, Chesapeake, VA on Tue, 02/07/2012 at 10:26 am.

....on the subject of abortion, can anyone find any authorization that gives the feds the power to dictate to the states when they must pay for abortions? I should think that it is ouside of the government's duties and power. Maybe we should re-name our country to The United States of Abortion since that seems to be the main issue in the news.

Mr. King ...

Submitted by Paul Murphy, Chesapeake, VA on Wed, 02/08/2012 at 11:15 am.

Social issues like abortion are in the news because the GOPT chose to focus on them when they came to power after the 2010 elections. More important things would be in the news if the GOPT had chosen to spend their efforts on more important things. They didn't.

The abortion funding for poor women

Submitted by Lennart A. Rothman, Norfolk, VA on Tue, 02/07/2012 at 4:42 pm.

who discover, usually late in a pregnancy, that they will have a severely deformed and incapacitated child should be balanced against the hundreds of thousands or more cost of keeping that child alive for its short lifespan.

Not to mention the pain the child will go through until it passes on.

And that money will come from taxpayers through previously voted on and passed Medicaid funding by Congress.

And Congress is authorized to spend, if you recall.

And those representatives were elected by us.