Washingtonpost.com: Virginia Legislature
By R.H. Melton
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, April 14, 1998; Page B01
RICHMOND, April 13 In his strongest gesture yet to conservative elements of Virginia's GOP, Gov. James S. Gilmore III (R) signed into law today a ban on some late-term abortions, which he described as "repulsive" and "hideous."
Religious broadcasters Pat Robertson, of Virginia Beach, and Jerry Falwell, of Lynchburg, had front-row seats for the bill-signing ceremony on the historic south portico of the Capitol, with 20 U.S. and Virginia flags as a backdrop.
"This procedure . . . is never medically necessary," Gilmore said. "Not only does it snuff out the lives of children, it can put the lives of women in jeopardy."
Abortion rights advocates assailed Gilmore and the legislation.
"Until today, physicians and their patients made medical decisions, not politicians and their pollsters," said Karen A. Raschke, who lobbies the legislature for Planned Parenthood. "Today that changed. Virginia politicians are intruding into women's most intimate personal decisions and interfering in sound medical practice."
More than 20 states have enacted similar bans Gilmore told a crowd of about 100 people today that three had done so in the last week alone and he contended that Virginia's version "rests on sound constitutional grounds."
But activists on the other side of the issue continued to threaten a court challenge to the new law, saying it infringes on rights spelled out 25 years ago in the Supreme Court's Roe v. Wade decision.
In an interview, Robertson praised the recently adjourned General Assembly and Gilmore for enacting what he described as a nonpartisan ban against "infanticide."
He also described the new law as a "crack in the dike" that eventually could overturn the Roe decision.
"It's just a small crack, but nevertheless it's a beginning acknowledgment in America that the slaughter of innocent children must stop," Robertson said.
Robertson and Falwell said the law and others like it across the country may pressure President Clinton to sign a federal ban on "partial birth" abortions that he has twice vetoed. Virginia modeled its law on that federal measure.
"Virginia is known for 200 years for its stand for human rights, civil rights, and we have made a loud statement here," Falwell said. "I hope that this signal travels about 100 miles up the interstate to Pennsylvania Avenue and Bill Clinton hears it and decides, 'Maybe I should do the right thing one time in my life and stop it.'"
During the procedure, a fetus is pulled out of the birth canal feet first, and the skull is partially collapsed so the fetus can be brought through the cervix, the narrowest part of the birth canal.
The new law would ban the procedure except when the life of the mother is threatened, creating regulatory procedures to review the steps taken by the doctor performing the abortion. Violating the law is a misdemeanor, punishable by a maximum penalty of one year in jail and a $2,500 fine.
Some opponents of the law scoffed at the idea during the assembly session, saying it almost certainly cannot be enforced, in part because no one knows for sure how many times the procedure is performed, where or by whom.
Del. Roger J. McClure (R-Fairfax), who in 1993 became the nation's first legislator to propose a "partial birth" abortion ban, said he was unable to document a single case in Virginia, because the state keeps no such statistics.
But he said there are 2,000 annually in New Jersey, for instance. "It's a very common procedure," he said.
By signing the bill, Gilmore was reaching out to his party's most conservative elements, who may have felt neglected as the governor has taken steps toward the political middle during his first three months in office. Observers in both major parties said Gilmore is on firm political ground with this new law, since it passed the legislature by margins favorable to him, unlike the child health care measure he vetoed last week.
The governor was eager to have a good turnout for the ceremony. His political action committee took the unusual step of mailing fliers throughout Richmond announcing the event.
© Copyright 1998 The Washington Post Company
ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7uK3SoaCnn6Sku7G70q1lnKedZMSxedKrrWikn5iurXvLqKWgrJWnunC4yJupmqqpZMOiv9Oaq56klZx8qr%2FSrpysZ5eeua670Z5nbWlkY7W1uQ%3D%3D