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After a long and passionate Senate floor debate that spanned a few hours over two days, the Virginia Senate voted 20-20 this afternoon to direct the Department of Health to promulgate regulations for abortion centers. After a brief pause for the Senate clerk to announce the vote, Lt. Governor Bill Bolling cast his constitutionally authorized tie-breaking vote in favor of the bill. It now will go to Governor Bob McDonnell for his signature. After more than two decades of hiding behind a veil of political secrecy, abortion centers in Virginia will face greater scrutiny and better health standards.

It was the first time ever that such legislation has even reached the Senate floor, despite numerous bills passed by the House. Each year, including earlier this session, the Senate kills the legislation in committee. But all 18 Republicans held together and two brave pro-life Democrats, Senators Phil Puckett (D-38, Tazewell) and Chuck Colgan (D-29, Manassas), resisted pressure from their caucus’ leadership.

While the session has gone according to script this year, with the House passing and the Senate Education and Health Committee killing pro-life legislation, a dramatic turn occurred only a few days ago, in last days of session. SB 924, patroned by Senator Ryan McDougle (R-4, Hanover), which directs the Board of Health to promulgate regulations for certain health care facilities, passed the Senate and went to the House of Delegates. Delegate Kathy Byron (R-22, Lynchburg) offered an amendment to add abortion centers. Liberals challenged its germaneness, but after consulting with his parliamentarian, House Speaker Bill Howell (R-28, Stafford) ruled it in order and the House passed it overwhelmingly. That change required it to return to the Senate where the GOP caucus began to coalesce around the amendment. The vote was scheduled yesterday, but after a half-hour of debate it was passed by until today. Senate Democrat leaders pressured its two wayward colleagues, but at the outset of the tenor of today’s 90-minute debate it was apparent there were no cracks in the coalition.

Unfortunately, opponents devoid of logic but full of less-than-genuine arguments, demagogued the issue. At one point Senator Janet Howell (D-32, Fairfax) mocked Senator Mark Obenshain’s (R-26, Harrisonburg) recitation of federal court decisions upholding abortion center regulations, even though he was replying to her colleagues’ calls for proof of legal precedent. It prompted this exchange. Majority Leader Dick Saslaw (D-35, Springfield) told his colleagues to “get a life!” if they thought the bill was about women’s safety, ignoring his own colleagues’ faux concerns for the constitution.

Senator John Edwards (D-21, Roanoke) repeatedly claimed the bill was unconstitutional with wild assertions and vague stretches of case law, all of which were refuted by Senator Obenshain, who cited federal appeals and U.S. Supreme Court decisions. One was Planned Parenthood v. Casey, which Senator Edwards said ruled such regulations illegal. Senator Obenshain replied that “standing up and saying so doesn’t make it so,” and read from the court’s opinion which plainly disproved Senator Edwards’ assertions.

Several liberal senators predicted horrors such as back alley abortions even though states such as South Carolina regulate abortion centers with no such reports and Virginia regulated abortion centers until 1983. They also claimed first-trimester abortions were among the “safest procedures” despite absolutely no corroborating evidence because there are no reporting requirements mandated in Virginia. Senator Dave Marsden (D-37, Fairfax) even compared the bill to the poll tax and efforts to keep minorities from voting in the Jim Crow era.

Another desperate aspect of the debate was the demand by several liberal Democrats that Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli issue an opinion, perhaps the first time they’ve wanted his advice. Of course, it was a tactic to delay and kill the bill. Senator Edwards sarcastically said the attorney general would love to defend the bill if it became law because of the other legal actions he’s pursued. But the fact was, and they knew it, he issued an opinion in August in support of the constitutionality of such regulations. He even accommodated senators with a letter composed during a Senate recess — which added to the longevity of the debate.

Opponents’ arguments, so twisted, inevitably contradicted each other, with Senator Howell’s unwitting admission that abortion is, in fact, used for contraception when she said the bill would take away one method of “determining the size of families.”

This was a monumental vote and a historic day. The forces of life, after years of pursuit, finally won an incremental and commonsense victory. Thank you to all who contacted their senators on this important issue! We now look forward to working within the regulatory process to ensure the regulations by the Board of Health ensure abortion centers are safe for women who make the unfortunate choice of abortion.

It’s never easy to negotiate a straight road through the General Assembly. This year, even as many issues long ago were decided, a stunning development has presented us a monumental last minute vote — but even that’s been pushed back a day. 

The Virginia Senate, after some debate today, put off until tomorrow a vote on the pro-life House amendment to SB 924. The bill, patroned by Senator Ryan McDougle (R-4, Mechanicsville), directs the Board of Health to create regulations regarding hospitals, nursing homes, and certified nursing facilities. However, Delegate Kathy Byron’s (R-22, Lynchburg) floor amendment (read here) Monday tacked on abortion centers to the types of facilities to come under these regulations. Once the House of Delegates approved the amendment and then the bill, it moved back to the Senate which will have to approve or reject the amendment and the bill.

In effect, the new version of bill requires the Board of Health to create abortion center safety regulations — an initiative The Family Foundation has pushed for more than a decade. But pro-abortion lawmakers successfully negotiated a one-day delay in the vote, presumably to pressure two pro-life Democrats. The Washington Post’s Virginia Politics blog reported today that Democrat Senators Chuck Colgan (D-29, Manassas) and Phil Puckett (D-38, Tazewell) have committed to support the amendment. We’re hopeful one more may come around as well. If the 18 Republican senators vote as a block, the addition of Senators Colgan and Puckett would result in a 20-20 tie, in which case Lieutenant Governor Bill Bolling would cast the deciding vote. A pro-life advocate during his time in the legislature, Lieutenant Governor Bolling is likely to support the amendment.

During today’s debate, opponents inaccurately portrayed the bill as forcing abortion centers to become hospitals with identical regulations. In fact, the bill as amended simply states that abortion centers are a type of hospital and that the Board of Health would have to promulgate regulations for this new classification of hospital, just as there are regulations for ambulatory surgery centers.
 
It is likely that tomorrow pro-abortion legislators will pull out every procedural move in the book in an attempt to derail this monumental win for the pro-life movement. Simply put, any attempt to monkey with the process (for example, attempting re-refer to committee or declaring the amendment not germane) will be seen as a deliberate attempt to prevent passage of the amendment and in effect the same as a vote against the amendment. After years of waiting for this day, pro-life advocates deserve an up or down vote on abortion center safety on the Senate floor.

Pressure and parliamentary tricks. That’s what the pro-abortion movement has come down to. Will it be enough to overcome what is right and the will of the people?
 
Thank you to those who have already contacted their Senators to support  this critical amendment. For those of you who have not yet done so, we urge you to do so immediately and affect this historic and monumental opportunity. 

Contact your senator by e-mail.

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Learn who your senator is.

Yesterday, the Democrat controlled Senate Finance Committee did something very unusual — they aimed their wrath on a Democrat House colleague, Delegate Ward Armstrong (D-10, Martinsville), and purposely killed his property rights bill. This afternoon, the Democrat controlled Transportation Committee proved it could kill a fellow Democrat’s bill by accident!

Here’s what happened:

We’re all familiar with the Planned Parenthood license plate bill by now (HB 1108). Patroned byDelegate Bob Brink (D-48, Arlington), the bill would allow the abortion provider its own plate with slogan (“Trust Women, Respect Choice”). Money from its sales was designated to go to the coffers of the partisan political organization. However, the House of Delegates accepted a floor amendment by Todd Gilbert (R-15, Shenandoah) to redirect the money instead to the Virginia Pregnant Women Support Fund. This amended bill was what was before the Transportation Committee.

Now, the Senate finished its floor business today earlier than the House, but instead of waiting for Delegate Brink to attend to introduce his bill, committee chair Yvonne Miller (D-5, Norfolk) decided to hear the bill without him. Not rare, but still unusual. In addition, two senators, Edd Houck (D-17, Spotsylvania) and Harry Blevins (R-14, Chesapeake) were absent taking committee membership down to 13. A motion was made to amend the bill to redirect sale proceeds back to Planned Parenthood. The vote was close, 7-6, in favor of the amendment. Senator Phil Puckett (D-38, Tazewell), a pro-life Democrat (speaking of same), voted with all but one of the Republicans against the amendment. Senator John Watkins (R-10, Powhatan) voted with the Dems to give them what they wanted. False sense of security. Thinking they had the votes, Chairman Miller proceeded with a vote on the amended bill — but it went down, 7-6! Now, not only is there no funding, there’s no plate! The entire bill is . . . dead!

What happened? Simple. Voting for amendments rarely is a big deal. Many senators do it to give the patron the legislation he or she wants so the committee can cast an up or down vote on what it is he or she is trying to accomplish. That’s all the Senator Watkins did. On the vote on final passage, he voted “no” with all the Republicans and Senator Puckett, whose decision was probably hardened by the possibility of Planned Parenthood getting license plate money.

I can hear the “Ooooooooops” coming from Senator Miller now. Better still, the hissy fit coming from Planned Parenthood! Great news — and fun — all the way around. Gotta love those unintended consequences. Still, there’s another Planned Parenthood plate bill alive, as part of an omnibus special license plate package, including one to benefit a low income children meals program. That PP plate bill funding has been stripped, too. However, its patron, Senator Janet Howell (D-32, Reston), has threatened to block the whole ball of wax if the PP funding isn’t restored. But liberals never take food from the children, do they? The pro-abort crack-up gets wackier every day!

Quick hypothetical: If the two absent senators were there, the outcome wouldn’t have changed. Even if Senator Houck voted for the plate, Senator Blevins has been consistently against all specialized license plates. He either would’ve voted no or abstained. A tie would have killed the bill.

Monday afternoon was an interesting day on the floor of the House of Delegates. It involved some tactical maneuvering as members debated Delegate Robert Brink’s (D-48, Arlington) Planned Parenthood license plate bill (HB 1108). It’s a bill that would create a specialty license plate that reads “Trust Women, Respect Choice.” For each plate sold, the Virginia League of Planned Parenthood would receive $15 of the $25 plate fee.

But something happened on the way to the bank — or, rather, the abortion center. Delegate Todd Gilbert (R-15, Woodstock) offered a floor amendment to change the specialty plate’s recipient from Planned Parenthood to the Virginia Pregnant Women Support Fund. The amendment passed by a healthy margin (56-39) over the objections of Delegate Brink and other pro-abortion lawmakers — and much to their chagrin. Then the bill passed, as amended, 77-22. Let’s just call it “Brink’s holdup.”

The Virginia Pregnant Women Support Fund was created in 2007 to “support women and families who are facing unplanned pregnancy” and is managed by the Virginia Board of Health. A brainchild of Senator Phil Puckett (D-38, Tazewell) and Delegate Ward Armstrong (D-10, Martinsville), the overarching goals of the fund are to provide funding for ultrasound machines, parenting programs, domestic violence/sexual assault education, vocational/academic support, and free home visits by nurses. Sounds worthy. After all, Planned Parenthood is for “choice,” right? But Planned Parenthood considers the amendment a devastating blow.

Delegate Brink told the House that Delegate Gilbert’s amendment was unfriendly in nature and urged its defeat. Delegate David Englin (D-45, Alexandria) argued that the change of the fund was unconstitutional, saying that it specifically targeted Planned Parenthood, a misreading of court precedent. Court rulings have said if one viewpoint is allowed on a license plate another viewpoint must also be allowed, but it does not address the funding aspects of the license plates.

Delegate Gilbert responded by saying that the Virginia Pregnant Women Support Fund was a better fit for the language of the plate (“Trust Women, Respect Choice”). Citing Planned Parenthood’s opposition to pro-woman legislation, including informed consent requirements that do exactly that — trust women — the stated that plate funds, if directed to Planned Parenthood, would not go to an organization in conformity with the plate’s message. Tuesday, when the vote on final passage was up, Delegate Brink made a long pronouncement on the floor that sounded as if he would conclude by asking for the bill to be struck. Instead, he urged its passage, as unfavorable as he was to the amendment, in hopes he can get a better deal in the Senate. So, as it turns out, it really is all about the money for this money making machine.

Ironically, in its initial passage, the Virginia Pregnant Women Support Fund was backed by both Planned Parenthood and The Family Foundation due to the Fund’s focus on striving to assist pregnant women. So, the moral of this story is, if you’re Planned Parenthood, and you want specialty license plate funding, come clean with your message. Because trusting women is the last thing you really mean.