In a surprise victory for abortion-rights advocates, the Virginia Senate on Thursday killed a controversial bill that would have given a fetus the same rights as everyday citizens just hours after lawmakers appeared poised to approve the measure.
A handful of Republicans joined Democrats in voting to send the so-called “personhood” bill back to committee, effectively putting it on hold for another year. The vote came after Senate Majority Leader Tommy Norment, R-James City, warned fellow Republicans that the bill was far more complicated than it appeared.
“There were many more complexities and nuances and legal arguments and legal perspectives on that bill that I had ever imagined,” Norment said.
The personhood bill defines life as beginning at conception and would give a fetus full legal and civil rights. The bill wouldn’t supersede federal laws or U.S. Supreme Court decisions that legalized abortion. However, it could have set the state on a path to ban all abortions should the high court overturn Roe v. Wade.
Opponents cautioned that the broad language of the bill could make some contraceptives illegal.
In killing the personhood bill, the Senate’s Republican leadership protected Gov. Bob McDonnell from having to weigh in on the controversial measure that had become fodder for late-night comedians just as McDonnell is trying to raise his political profile nationally.
McDonnell, often mentioned as a possible Republican vice presidential candidate, never formally took a position on the personhood bill and his office did not respond to queries about the Senate vote. Still, the bill’s sponsor accused McDonnell of wanting to kill the bill to avoid political embarrassment.
“This had to be done with the consent of the governor and this is frankly an abandonment of the Republican platform,” said Del. Bob Marshall, R-Manassas. “It is a betrayal of the Ronald Reagan legacy.”
The Senate Health and Education Committee on Thursday approved changes McDonnell sought in a second abortion measure. That legislation that would require women to undergo an ultrasound examination before they would be allowed to get an abortion. The bill was changed so that women would be given only an external “jelly on the belly” ultrasound and not the more invasive internal transvaginal ultrasound allowed under the original legislation.
The full Senate could vote on that bill as early as Friday.
Thursday’s personhood vote was a rare win for Democrats during a legislative session that has pushed the state to the right on nearly every social issue.
“This kind of legislation,” said Senate Minority Leader Dick Saslaw, D-Fairfax, “is making our state a national embarrassment.”
