Senate committee approves amended ultrasound bill

UPDATE:

A state Senate committee this morning approved a bill sponsored by Del. Kathy Byron, R-Campbell County, requiring an external ultrasound for abortions.

The Senate committee on education and health acted on Gov. Bob McDonnell's amended version of the ultrasound bill, which initially required women considering abortions to have transvaginal ultrasounds.

The vote was 8-7 on party lines.

McDonnell said yesterday he would no longer support the bill's original intent, saying the government had no role in mandating "invasive" medical procedures.

EARLIER:

 Lawmakers supported a milder abortion-ultrasound requirement Wednesday after Gov. Bob McDonnell urged them to remove language that could have required women to undergo a transvaginal examination.

There were indications Del. Kathy Byron, R-Campbell County, could wind up as the official sponsor of the legislation, which now requires an external “jelly-on-the-belly”  ultrasound for abortions.

Democrats and women’s groups said the amendments, proposed by McDonnell Tuesday night and polished by Republican delegates Wednesday, still went too far by requiring a procedure that has catapulted Virginia into national TV commentaries and late-night comedy fodder.

“I believe there is no need to direct by statute that further invasive ultrasound procedures be done,” McDonnell said in a statement issued Wednesday concerning Senate Bill 484, which was waiting for debate on the House calendar.

“This is about the governor’s political aspirations, not about women’s health or protecting her rights,” said Tarina Keene, spokeswoman for an abortion-rights group.

McDonnell has stumped in several states for Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign, most recently in Michigan, and is widely regarded as a vice-presidential possibility.

Del. Vivian Watts, D-Fairfax, said the governor’s amendments were put on delegates’ desks “hot off the copier” about an hour after McDonnell’s public statement, and lawmakers were given only a few minutes to debate them.

Democratic leader Del. David Toscano, D-Charlottesville, urged the House to wait a day before passing the bill because it’s complex.

“We shouldn’t be playing doctor on the House floor with this kind of language,” he said.

Republicans rejected his request. 

Del. Jennifer McClellan, D-Richmond, told House members the amended bill still could require an ultrasound when doctors treat a woman who has suffered a partial miscarriage.

The House approved the amended bill on a party-line 65-32 vote and sent it back to the Senate, where sponsoring Sen. Jill Holtzman-Vogel promised to strike it from the docket.

Vogel, R-Winchester, told fellow senators too many questions and too much misinformation were swirling about the bill.

If Vogel follows through, Byron’s HB 462 could become the vehicle carrying the ultrasound legislation to McDonnell for his signature.

Byron’s ultrasound bill is pending in a Senate committee, where the governor’s amendments could be attached before sending it to the Senate floor.

Byron said she supported the amendments because the bill “is still consistently pro-life, and we will still be one state, of seven, that are strengthening their informed-consent law.”

“There are so many things a woman should know before making this decision,” she said. “I fully support anything Virginia can do to strengthen the law to ensure a woman gets the most accurate and thorough information before making that decision” to end a pregnancy.

Keene, of NARAL Pro-Choice Virginia, said McDonnell still wasn’t getting the message.

“The bill still mandates ultrasounds before women can access their constitutionally protected right to obtain an abortion,” Keene said.

Albo said delegates joined McDonnell in drafting the language and it was “well thought out.”