Late tonight, life advocates achieved a significant victory! Despite volcanoes, a Senator’s flight plans, and outright lies from the opposition, for the first time ever since Virginia’s adoption of the federal Hyde Amendment in 1982, elective low-income abortion has been defunded! The Family Foundation and our pro-life allies have been working for decades to achieve this victory and despite all odds, life triumphed.
The amendment brings Virginia substantially in line with federal law that requires we pay for abortions in the instances of rape, incest or life of the mother. Prior to the Governor’s amendment, Virginia was one of only 17 states that funded elective (“health” of the mother) abortions. Other than in cases of “gross and totally incapacitating physical deformity or with a gross and totally incapacitating mental deficiency,” this will no longer be the case. We'd especially like to thank the Governor for introducing this important pro-life amendment.
The day began early this morning as legislators and lobbyists flooded the capitol. The Family Foundation lobbyists were confident of a win in the House, but were on edge with the Senate. The Senate chamber is almost evenly divided politically and the appointed tiebreaker (Lt. Governor Bill Bolling) was stranded in Italy due to Iceland’s volcanic eruption. There was a strong possibility that the vote would result in a tie and in that case, with the LG’s absence, the amendment would fail. The Family Foundation knew that enough votes had to be found and we were hard at work to find them!
To make matters worse, it came to our attention a few hours later that one of our pro-life legislators, Senator Steve Newman (R-23, Forest), had a flight to catch and the chances that the amendment would be held prior to him leaving was slim to none. With this senator’s absence and the LG’s absence, The Family Foundation was gravely concerned for the amendment’s passage despite the bill’s House passage earlier in the day (64 to 30 with 1 abstention).
Around 9pm, the amendment finally came to the Senate floor. Family Foundation lobbyists watched from the gallery as Senator Dick Saslaw (D-35, Fairfax) led the charge against the amendment. In a bizarre statement and in contradiction to a legal opinion from the Attorney General, the opposition claimed that if this amendment passed, state employee abortions would no longer be covered by the state health plan. It is our understanding that state employees cannot be reimbursed for abortion expenditures anyway, so the claim appeared unfounded. Thanks to the Attorney General's office for clarifiying this issue.
Coming to life’s defense, Senator Mark Obenshain (R-26, Harrisonburg) was the one and only voice in the Senate advocating for the Governor’s amendment. Having clearly done his homework, Senator Obenshain articulately defended the amendment from the bizarre attacks and argued brilliantly for its passage.
In a moment that directly parallels the Bible story of Gideon’s army where the odds of victory were logically impossible, the vote was taken, and the amendment passed 20-19! Democrat Senators Chuck Colgan (D-29, Manassas), Phil Puckett (D-38, Tazewell), and Roscoe Reynolds (D-20, Martinsville), joined with all Republicans in attendance to pass the amendment. Seemingly impossible due to the absence of Senator Newman and the LG, God worked a miracle tonight! Pro-life advocates have been waiting for years for this victory!
The Family Foundation would like to thank everyone who contacted legislators to encourage them to vote for this amendment. As the close vote shows, your voice was crucial in this success! Stay tuned for an alert in the coming days to assist you in thanking the important people who made this victory a reality. We hope you will join us tonight in celebrating this monumental victory for life!
Victoria Cobb, President
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
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