A major victory for women in Virginia.
After Gov. Bob McDonnell said he no longer favors requiring women to undergo an invasive ultrasound before having an abortion, the Republican-ruled House of Delegates voted 65-32 for a revised measure that mandates an ultrasound but makes the transvaginal procedure optional.
Opponents of transvaginal ultrasound argued that mandating the invasive procedure, without a woman’s consent, was a form of rape or sexual abuse:
The House amended the bill minutes after Republican Gov. BobMcDonnell came out against mandating the more invasive procedure.McDonnell shifted ground after the proposal drew outrage from women, national ridicule from television comedians and appeals from GOP moderates.
The amended bill now returns to the Senate where its sponsor, Sen. Jill Holtzman Vogel, said she will strike the legislation. That means senators could vote to kill the amended version when it returns to the Senate for approval. Ed will have a lot more to say on these developments tonight at 8pET on msnbc with Delegate Charniele Herring (D-VA), Minority Whip and Chair of Virginia’s Reproductive Rights Caucus, and Katrina Vanden Heuvel, Editor and Publisher of The Nation.
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