Please contact both your Senator and your Delegate today to voice opposition to HB2784, which would further restrict access to safe and legal reproductive health care for Virginia women.
The bill was read for the second time and engrossed today, which means it will likely come up for a full vote in the House tomorrow. As reported by the AP:
The bill by Henrico County Delegate John "Jack" Reid would require any clinic that performs 25 or more first-trimester abortions a year to be licensed and meet the same standards as ambulatory surgery centers.
The clinics now are treated like doctors' offices and are not routinely inspected by the state. The House has overwhelmingly passed similar legislation two years in a row only to see it killed by a Senate committee. Reid says the intent of the bill is to see that abortions, "are performed in as sterile and as safe an environment as possible."
Fairfax Delegate Vivian Watts says there are dozens of other procedures done at doctors' offices that are as invasive as abortions. She says the intention of the bill, "is to significantly reduce the number of abortions by making them extremely expensive." A final House vote is expected Tuesday.
Ben Greenberg of Planned Parenthood Advocates of Virginia explains in an article in the Lynchburg News & Advance that the burden these new regulations would have on existing reproductive health clinics in Virginia:
“They would either have to build a new facility, which we know can cost between $1.5 million and $2 million, or they would have to completely restructure their current offices to meet those requirements, which would be incredibly costly, or go out of business."
The "go out of business" part is exactly what opponents of access to reproductive health care are seeking. The Richmond Times-Dispatch also covers the story, with more useful quotes from Delegate Watts and Delegate Sickles:
Del. Vivian E. Watts, D-Fairfax, said if the concern truly were public health, legislators would make sure all plastic surgery, colonoscopy procedures, wisdom-tooth removal and dozens of other invasive medical procedures were subject to similar oversight.
"The fact that this bill is only going after one procedure indicates clearly what it is about," Watts said.
Del. Mark D. Sickles, D-Fairfax, said House members were sending a conflicting message by supporting legislation that permits state licensing of non-nurse midwives who assist in home births, a riskier situation than a first-trimester abortion.
In the Lynchburg article, note that Delegate Dick "Baby Pesticides" Black has broken out his trusty plastic fetus dolls in the House yet again. Aside from playing with larger dolls this time, he also compares abortion to "what happened during the Holocaust". (One wonders if Holocaust survivors may have opinions on that one?) Don't forget, David Poisson is running against "Baby Pesticides" Black in the 32nd and needs our support.
Delegate Vivian Watts (D-Annandale) correctly points out that "Baby Pesticides" Black's fetal pain bill defines a fetus as "a member of the species homo sapiens from fertilization until birth", once again attempting to establish a legislative definition of that would, in effect, classify birth control methods such as oral contraceptives, emergency contraceptives, and IUD's, which may prevent implantation of a fertilized egg, as abortion methods. Like Delegate Devolites-Davis, Dick "Baby Pesticides" Black forgoes established medical definitions in favor of his own ideological ones.
Please read these bills yourself and make sure your legislators know your opinions on this legislation before it is too late to make a difference.
UPDATE: Matt Hupp from Henrico will be stepping up to run against Jack Reid, who ran unopposed in 2003. Go Matt!
I wanted to mention this NARAL email I received 1/28, including this:
Share Your Story!
In Virginia, some health insurance plans that cover prescription drugs do not cover prescription contraception.
Delegate Mitchell Van Yahres introduced a bill that would require health plans that cover prescription drugs to cover prescription contraception. Show your support for this legislation.
We are collecting stories from people whose health insurance does not cover contraception. If you have a story to share, please submit it on our Personal Stories webpage [http://www.naralva.org/s06stories] or email it to us at [email protected].
...
[The message also included this invitation:
Pro-Choice Lobby Day
for the 2005 Session of the Virginia General Assembly
When: Thursday, February 3, 8:00 am - 2:00 pm
Where: General Assembly Building
9th & Broad St., Downtown Richmond
The 2005 General Assembly session will be making major decisions that could dramatically affect your reproductive rights and the rights of all Virginians. Come to Richmond for Pro-Choice Lobby Day and help send a message to all of our state legislators that we are pro-choice, we vote, and we are concerned about our reproductive freedom.
Tentative Schedule:
8:00 - 11:00 am: Meet legislators & attend committee meetings
11:00 am: Burma shave (sign holding) public demonstration
12:00 - 2:00 pm: Rally & light lunch]
...
After reading the personal story I emailed to NARAL-VA, Executive Director Ann O'Hanlon responded on 1/31, "It's very timely, since the Virginia General Assembly is considering contraceptive equity bills today and tomorrow." She asked if they could read my story today, calling it "powerful stuff," with my slant being that restrictions on bcp scripts/coverage also restrict medically necessary bcp treatement for endometriosis and ovarian cysts.
Do you know anyting more on this stuff?
Thanks.
Posted by: B | February 01, 2005 at 09:31 PM
Maura,
I just now received a reply from my Senator, Harry Blevins, informing me that a similar bill (SB839) was defeated in the Senate Education and Health Committee this morning (03Feb05). Haven't heard from my delegate on any of the house bills I also wrote them about (HB2784 and HB2855).
Maria
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