Pro-life bill passes
Virginia House of Delegates provides model for other states in fighting abortion
HB 1090 sounds like it could be a mutated strain of swine flu or perhaps a new Microsoft operating system. Maybe it is Mazda’s most recent model.
The obscure, numerical title that reveals no hint of meaning is not a virus — nor is it a computer program or a car. House Bill 1090 is the legislature passed by Virginia’s House of Delegates Feb. 16 that suggests a moral compass does exist within the state’s governing body.
House — Virginia legislature passed a bill that defunded Planned Parenthood. Google Images
Politicians tend to walk the line where viewpoints intersect — after all, liberals’ votes do still count. But, where abortion is concerned, inaction will not pacify conservatives much longer. State legislatures nationwide should take note of Virginia’s decision, and ban state-funded abortions.
A 64-35 vote rattled pro-choice activists as Virginia’s delegates passed the bill that prohibits the Department of Health from spending any funds on abortions not matching Medicaid provisions, according to wtvr.com. Barring the Medicaid footnote tacked to the end of the bill, this legislature represents both a victory for Christian values and a springboard for triumphs in other areas of public policy.
An anti-abortion law has strong implications of Virginia’s leanings toward a Republican presidential choice in 2016 as well.
As politics and diplomacy command, the bill does not name the particular program targeted by its content. However, upon perusing its contents and in light of recent body-part-sale scandals, Planned Parenthood is an easy first guess.
Monumental as it was, Virginia’s motion to strike down abortion was a small step in a big race. Following the 2014 mid-term elections, Republicans gained control of “70 of the nation’s 99 state legislative chambers, both chambers in 30 states,” according to Reuters.
Yet only 10 states in the nation have passed laws that defund Planned Parenthood, according to the Daily Signal.
Unfortunately, no good deed goes unpunished. In response to the bill’s passage, Tarina Keene, the executive director of Virginia’s National Abortion Rights Action League (NARAL), responded vehemently.
“With their vote today, Virginia’s anti-women legislators have made it clear that their top priority is continuing to attack women’s rights and restrict access to critical health care,” Keene said in a
NARAL press release.
“Anti-women” is a pretty broad category.
Cianti Stewart-Reid, director of Virginia’s Planned Parenthood Advocates, follows suit with angry words of her own.
“This bill cannot become law,” Stewart-Reid said, according to wtvr.com. “We need to trust and respect women to make their own private, personal health-care decisions, and that includes selecting their own health care providers.”
Rest assured, the elimination of Planned Parenthood funding does not take away women’s choice of health care provider. It simply shrinks the field from which they must choose — a lighter burden for
delicate shoulders.
The remaining state legislatures, the Republican-controlled ones especially, need to take similar action individually to defund the program that represents a threat to human life. While the argument of other services provided by Planned Parenthood often serves as a red herring to distract from the main issue, those in public office must turn a discerning eye to this matter.
A program that aborts babies is wrong.
A program that provides birth control, screens for STDs, tests cholesterol, helps you quit smoking and aborts babies on the side is still wrong.
Virginia took a big step. Legislators made the effort to defund a program that breaches both faith and morality. Opposition has noticed — hopefully fellow representatives notice as well.
GARBER is an opinion writer.