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This morning was the Senate Education and Health Committee’s annual “Black Thursday” — each session, the committee hears the pro-life bills passed by the House of Delegates on the last Thursday of its calendar and promptly kills them. It did this under Republican control and continues to do so under Democrat control. Under Democrat control, however, the committee was stacked in a way out of proportion 10-5 majority despite only having a two-seat advantage in the chamber (see “Senate Math” here).

This year, it did no less. It killed HB 393 and HB 334 on 11-5 votes, with Republican Fred Quayle (R-13, Suffolk) joining the 10 Democrats in not being able to bring himself to vote for life-saving equipment in abortion centers nor providing women considering abortion accurate information about the risks of future pregnancies and births. It left HB 1042 to die without a hearing when Delegate Kathy Byron (R-22, Lynchburg) was unable to attend the meeting.

However, just as not all Republicans are not pro-life (Senator Quayle and others), not all Democrats are “pro-choice.” For several years now, we have been proud to ally ourselves with Democrats For Life of America, a national organization of pro-life Democrats, with chapters in several states. It works to bring the pro-life philosophy to the Democrat Party and boasts several high-profile elected officials, such as U.S. Representative Bart Stupak (D-Mich.), author of the Stupak Amendment in the House version of the health care “reform” bill. The amendment bans federal funding of abortion or mandates on insurance companies to cover abortion. DFL issued a letter last night in support of HB 393. It is below in its entirety, including its Board members. We salute the continued good work and success of Democrats For Life of America.

______________________________________________________________

Democrats For Life of America, Inc.

DFLA – The pro-life voice within the Democratic Party

_____________________________________________________________

March 3, 2010

Dear Chairman Houck and Members of the Committee:

Democrats For Life of America supports HB 393 and urges you to support this important legislation.

Abortion can be a divisive issue. We, at Democrats For Life of America, have worked to find areas of agreement where, regardless of one’s position on abortion, people can agree on good policy.

While we oppose abortion, we have worked for over five years on our 95-10 Initiative with the goal of reducing abortion by providing women who experience unplanned pregnancies with assistance so they will have the resources and support to bring their child to term. But some women will still see abortion — a surgical procedure — as their only option. So it is essential that we protect their health and safety under proper standards of care.

HB 393 is good policy, which provides for only three basic provisions any facility that performs invasive surgery should be asked to accommodate: an annual inspection, a license and having life-saving equipment on location. Certainly, we can agree that these are reasonable for anyone who thinks abortion should be legal, but safe. HB 393 is an opportunity both sides of this issue to come together to do what is best for Virginia’s women.

If this were any other procedure, the facility would be licensed by the Commonwealth and subject to reasonable regulations. We should not think of this as an infringement on abortion rights, but a good bill to protect Virginia women from potentially unsafe situations.

We urge the Committee to vote for this common-sense measure to protect the women of Virginia.

Sincerely,

Kristen Day

Executive Director

This Thursday the Senate Education and Health Committee will vote on several pro-life bills that are priorities of The Family Foundation. Please contact the members of the Ed and Health committee (see here) and urge them to pass the following bills:

HB 334 (Delegate Bob Marshall, R-13, Manassas): This bill would require that our Informed Consent law be updated to include information that has been published in a peer reviewed medical journal about the consequences of abortion on future pregnancies. Ironically, Planned Parenthood, which has accused pregnancy resource centers of disseminating information that is not “medically accurate,” is opposed to this bill that requires the information given to women at Virginia’s unregulated abortion centers to be exactly that —  medically accurate.

HB 393 (Delegate Matt Lohr, R-26, Harrisonburg): This legislation would require Virginia’s unregulated abortion centers to have on site life saving equipment, as well as require licensing and regular inspection. Currently, Virginia’s abortion centers are unregulated and uninspected.

HB 1042 (Delegate Kathy Byron, R-22, Lynchburg): This bill would require that unregulated abortion centers perform an ultrasound to better determine the gestational age of the unborn child prior to an abortion, and offer the woman seeking the abortion the opportunity to view the ultrasound. It would bring Virginia’s Informed Consent law in line with modern medical technology.

If you are familiar at all with the Virginia General Assembly then you are aware just how antagonistic the majority of the Ed and Health committee usually is toward even the most reasonable pro-life legislation. On an annual basis, we see pro-life bills die on what we have begun to call “Black Thursday” — the last Thursday of committee hearings each session.

Why, bother contacting these legislators who seem so clearly opposed to protecting the unborn? There are several reasons:

First, past votes are not always indications of future action. Legislators change their minds. You may recall Senator Creigh Deeds (D-25, Bath), while running for governor, talking about “growing” as a legislator (he was referring to his flip-flop on the Marriage Amendment). We have worked with legislators who have become more and more pro-life over their time in the legislature, often through the education process associated with debate over these bills.

Which leads to a second reason, education. These bills offer us the opportunity to educate both legislators and the public on these important issues. They give you the opportunity to discuss controversial issues with friends and neighbors by talking about reasonable measures often supported by large majorities. Each time we present these bills to a committee we are able to reach more people with the message of the importance of protecting both the unborn and women who face a crisis pregnancy. You never know when a legislator is going to hear an argument that is going to change their opinion of a certain piece of legislation.

Finally, these votes expose where legislators currently are on reasonable abortion measures. Several members of the Ed and Health committee are in districts that have a pro-life  constituency. These senators mask as “moderate,” but their voting records on these bills have exposed their real positions. Next year, when these senators are up for re-election, the voters in their districts will know exactly where they stand on these issues because they will have a four-year voting record to look at. Voters will then be able to hold them accountable for their votes.

So, please do your part. Contact the members of the Ed and Health committee and urge them to support HB 334, HB 393 and HB 1042.

Yesterday, we posted part one of a two part interview with Senator Jill Vogel (R-27, Winchester). The questions focused on SB 417, the Virginia Health Care Freedom bill she patroned, and which is on its way to Governor Bob McDonnell for his signature. The bill preserves the freedom of Virginians from federal mandates to buy health insurance. Today, we ask Senator Vogel about state spending and the budget, de-funding Planned Parenthood and eliminating the state corporate income tax.

FamilyFoundationBlog: Will the General Assembly eliminate funding for Planned Parenthood this year? It was so close two years ago, but now we have a pro-life governor. How will having a pro-life governor affect this particular budget policy getting approved?

Senator Jill Vogel: I hope so. I introduced a budget amendment on the Senate side that would de-fund Planned Parenthood. But in the Democratic controlled Senate it is more of an uphill battle. No question, having a pro-life Governor makes a difference and no doubt, it is a razor thin vote in the Senate.

FamilyFoundationBlog: Over a period of about 10 years, state government spending nearly doubled. Will the Virginia Senate take advantage of the budget gap now to not just make cuts to programs, which still leaves them in place to grow again in the future, but make permanent changes that eliminate government involvement entirely where government truly is not needed so as to put a brake on future state government growth?

Senator Jill Vogel: I think that this awful economy and terrible budget environment has a silver lining. We have the leverage to make changes in the size and structure of government that will bring long terms savings and shrink the size of government.

FamilyFoundationBlog: Every year we see the governor and General Assembly pass targeted tax credits to create jobs or “invest” in business recruitment funding to lure businesses to Virginia. Instead of spending taxpayer money and quibbling over targeted tax credits that are not broadly based and how much to fund — and what to name — the Governor’s Opportunity Fund, why not cut or eliminate corporate taxes? They are the biggest hindrance to job creation. Corporate taxes need to be looked at as a business expense. If a CEO knew he could move to Virginia where his company would pay no corporate tax, and his company could then realize a bigger profit, that would lure many more times the businesses to Virginia than any targeted incentive. Should the General Assembly and Governor McDonnell be so bold as to support Delegate Bob Purkey’s HB 119?

Senator Jill Vogel: I support the bill and you have said it better than I could. Targeted tax breaks may solve a short term, narrow objective. But let’s be practical and consider that a broader perspective, where we address the issue of corporate taxes head on, brings substantial long term benefit and would be a real game changer when businesses out of Virginia decide where they want to invest.

FamilyFoundationBlog: Senator Vogel, thanks a million for your time and your insights into this year’s session. Thank you also for your constant support for family values and limited, constitutional government. We look forward to a productive and successful session in advancing these shared principles.

Senator Jill Vogel: Thank you so much for the questions. It is a great honor to get to serve my district in the Senate. I take my responsibility seriously and I appreciate the opportunity to partner with you on so many issues that matter to my district. Take care and stay in touch.

As part of our Virtual Lobby Day, we want to bring you as much flavor of the General Assembly as we can to those who can’t make it to Richmond as often as they’d like. In fact, we continue to post videos of committee hearings on bills we support on our YouTube Channel as well as here, making this blog perhaps the best place for information about what your state government is doing. Tomorrow, and throughout session, we’ll have more about what we’re doing through the Internet and how you can help influence lawmakers.

On January 18, Delegate Kathy Byron (R-22, Lynchburg), a former Family Foundation Legislator of the Year, spoke to pro-family activists at our Family Foundation Day at the Capitol. She focused on two pro-life bills she is carrying this session: HB 1033 (defining a baby as separate from the mother’s body) and HB 1042 (requiring an ultrasound before an abortion). Both bills are still alive. Click on them to get more information and learn where you need to direct your e-mails.

Delegate Kathy Byron speaks on behalf of the unborn — and the born in patroning the “baby bill” this session.

Today’s QOD comes from this morning’s meeting of the House Finance Committee. Committee members at first honored Delegate David Englin’s (D-45, Alexandria) request to carry over his HB 275 for the year, a polite way of killing it. But the bill would repeal Virginia’s Estate Tax exemption, which would amount to a massive tax increase. Seeing its ultimate demise, he used the out that since it is tied to pending federal legislation, it made sense to see the outcome of the Congressional bill first.

But then committee Republicans had a change of heart and decided to have the bill only carried over to another meeting, all the better to get committee Democrats on record for or against a tax increase, especially one that specifically hurts families, small businesses and farmers. Commenting on the lengths the GOP members were taking to reverse course on a bill everyone knows is going about as far as a pro-life bill in the Senate, Delegate Albert Pollard (D-99, Lancaster) said:

I believe Delegate Englin only wanted a blind fold and a cigarette today. 

Dr. John Seeds, the chairman of the OB-GYN Department at VCU’s Medical College of Virginia, will give a respect life presentation at 6:00 p.m. this Sunday, January 17, at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church in Richmond. Dr. Seeds is a member of The Family Foundation’s Medical Resource Council and has testified numerous times in front of General Assembly committees on pro-life legislation. If you live in the area, or plan to be for the inaugural activities, or can manage a trip to Richmond (see map), it will be well worth it. Dr. Seeds is one of the most respected doctors in his field and a leading authority on the subject of the early stages of life.

Here are more details form event organizers:

The Respect Life sub-committee of Our Lady of Lourdes will host a presentation by Dr. John Seeds entitled “Lies and Deception in the Violence Against the Unborn” at 6:00 p.m. on Sunday, January 17. Dr. Seeds is a professor and Chairman of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at MCV-VCU. He received his training at the University of North Carolina. He has been with the Medical College of Virginia Hospitals since 1993. Dr. Seeds is nationally and internationally renowned for his expertise in the field of ultrasound and prenatal diagnosis. This event is open to all; reception with light refreshments will follow.

Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church is located at 8200 Woodman Road, Richmond. For questions, call Kim at 804-332-1988, or Maria Barbour, head of parish’s Human Concerns group, at 804-746-7235.

This is the second in a series of five policy statements on issues that will come before the 2010 General Assembly. The first, regarding parental rights, can be found here. Each statement covers one of The Family Foundation’s five areas of principle. The others will follow over the rest of the week.

Just a few days before Christmas, Virginians learned of an appalling story from Campbell County in which a mother allegedly suffocated her infant to death when it was only moments old. Worse, no charges were filed against the mother. Why has this murder essentially been condoned by the authorities? Because the child was umbillically attached when murdered.

Virginia law is unclear about whether a born child who remains umbilically attached is a “separate and independent life” and, therefore, accorded basic human rights — such as life! The legal standard was set in Lane v. Commonwealth, where the Virginia Supreme Court held that in order to bring charges against someone who killed a newborn, it must be proven that:

» The child is born alive,

» Has an independent and separate existence from the mother, and 

» The accused is the criminal agent that caused the death.

Incredibly, the court saw a distinction between a child “born alive” and one having an “independent and separate existence” from the mother. Abortion advocates are so desperate to protect their “right” to abortion that they blur the lines of homicide as well — the law has been crafted in such a way as to allow for a class of cases in which the criminal code no longer is applied.

For those of us who are pro-life, murder and abortion are synonymous. However, to our opponents, the start of life is ambiguous and even the “I know it when I see it” pornography standard isn’t concrete enough to be applied to life. They are always moving the target, always excusing, always apologizing. But no matter what anyone believes about abortion, there is no reasonable argument for the murder of a newly born infant.

Virginia has a partial birth infanticide law and we are investigating whether that law could be applied here. But the action alleged in the Campbell County case is so heinous that is needs to be addressed in our criminal code as well.

Over a year ago state Senator Robert Hurt (R-19, Chatham) began investigating how to make Virginia’s law stronger in this area. He urged the Virginia Crime Commission to study the issue and propose legislative changes, but the commission only did so after being forced to by Senator Hurt and Delegate Rob Bell (R-58, Charlottesville). We have contacted the Alliance Defense Fund and they are reviewing possible legislative remedies for this situation.

Several years ago, a similarly disturbing incident took place in which a pregnant woman shot herself in the stomach on her due date and was not prosecuted for anything more than unlawful discharge of a firearm. She paid a small fine and nothing was added to her record. The Family Foundation took the legislative initiative to address this issue, but the bill was defeated in the Senate Education and Health committee.

This year, The Family Foundation is supporting an Infant Born Alive Act (HB 1033), patroned by Delegate Kathy Byron (R-22, Lynchburg), in the General Assembly in response to the Campbell County incident. Legislators will get yet another opportunity to fix the loophole in the law and protect Virginia’s infant children. Let’s pray that they recognize life when they see it and support life-protecting legislation.

Here’s a reminder to our readers in Fairfax County: There is a special election tomorrow, in the 37th Senate district, which is made up of precincts in the Braddock, Sully and Springfield supervisor districts. The election is to fill the seat of Attorney General-elect Ken Cuccinelli, who resigned from the Virginia Senate after his election victory in November.

Polls open at 6:00 a.m. and close at 7:00 p.m. and voting is at your normal polling place. Click here to see if your precinct is in the district. Bring your voter registration card or a picture ID.

Voting is a sacred responsibility that we need to exercise every time we have the opportunity. People of faith turned out in record percentages for November’s election and we elected three pro-life, pro-family candidates to the three top offices in the state. This election could be nearly as important since the Virginia Senate is so closely divided (a 21-19 Democrat majority). The last election for this seat was decided by only 92 votes, so your vote does make a difference.

To see where the candidates stand on issues important to the family and to people of faith, click here, to visit tffaction.org. We have prepared voter guides especially for this election in English, Spanish and Korean. You can also watch footage, by clicking here, from a candidate forum hosted last week by the Fairfax Family Forum. Be an informed voter, and support the candidate that stands for the values that you believe in. (Click here the to read about the role of the tax issue as well as how one candidate’s “home” is a room in a friend’s house, and click here to read the role of social issues.)

Thank you for making the commitment to go out and vote tomorrow. Please pass this link to your like-minded friends and family members in the 37th district.

Today, pro-family Virginians are celebrating yesterday’s election of candidates whom we believe hold to, and will govern by, values you and I share. After months of working hard either for candidates or organizations like The Family Foundation to educate voters, seeing the fruit of that labor is sweet indeed.

Exit polling found that evangelicals made up more than one-third of voters yesterday and 83 percent of those voted for the pro-life, pro-family candidates. Those numbers surpass the high water mark of pro-family involvement in any Virginia election to date!

No one can question that our Winning Matters campaign had an incredible effect on voter turnout. Thank you to everyone who contributed to the campaign by donating financially, distributing Voter Guides, Report Cards, holding voter registration drives, and a multitude of other activities. Your efforts made a huge impact yesterday.

But now, the work begins.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m as thrilled as you that Virginians sent a clear message to President Barack Obama, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (not to mention Mark Warner, Jim Webb and the like) that we reject the debt riddled policies they are pushing. I’m excited that we have a Governor-elect, Lt. Governor-elect and Attorney General-elect who share our values. But I also know that we’ve been here before, in the days after elections, thinking that the work was done only to learn that it was far from over. We need to hold all of our newly elected officials to their promises.

Even with a larger conservative majority in the Virginia House of Delegates, the obstacle that our pro-family, pro-life agenda has faced for several years – the Virginia Senate – stands between us and our goals. While we hope members of that chamber also get the message of last night’s election results, they have two years before they face the voters. If history is any indication, they are hoping that you will have forgotten by then.

The first opportunities to affect the Senate will come with two special elections in the next few weeks. With Ken Cuccinelli’s victory last night, there will be an election to replace him in his Fairfax Senate seat. In addition, Senator Ken Stolle won election to sheriff of Virginia Beach, meaning that there will be an election for that seat as well.

Here is the commitment I’m asking you to make today: we will not stop, we will not rest, until the Senate of Virginia reflects our values! We will not stop working until that chamber joins the rest of our leaders in supporting common sense pro-life and pro-family proposals.

We have the opportunity in the upcoming session to give all 40 members of the Senate the chance to vote on legislation that reflects our values – and if they reject those values again, we have to make them pay the price at the ballot box in 2011.

I also encourage you to pray for all the newly elected candidates. In particular, over the next few months Governor-elect McDonnell will select key advisers, cabinet members and a multitude of officials on boards and commissions. Please pray that he appoints qualified, principled conservatives to those positions, the impact of which will go on well after he leaves office. It is often said that “personnel is policy,” so selecting those he will take counsel from in the years ahead is crucial for the new governor.

But today, celebrate. Enjoy a hard fought victory. Then get ready to join The Family Foundation as we look only to the future.

On Tuesday, Republican gubernatorial candidate Bob McDonnell appeared on the Laura Ingraham Radio Show and, to the delight of many pro-lifers, took a definitive stand on banning taxpayer funding of Planned Parenthood. For many, such as Virginians For Life, such a public stand from McDonnell was essential and urged him for some time to make a public pledge. Remember, he has not signed a no-tax pledge. To others, his commitment to the pro-life cause was never in doubt. But Ingraham brought up the issue and McDonnell responded by saying banning state funds to Planned Parenthood is something he’s been for since the beginning.

Here’s the interview. It lasts 7:19 and the Planned Parenthood question is at about the 3:40 mark.

Bob McDonnell takes the “No Planned Parenthood Pledge” on the nationally syndicated Laura Ingraham Radio Show.