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Ear to the Ground

Virginia Legislators Put ‘Personhood’ Bill on Hold

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Posted on Feb 23, 2012
http://legis.virginia.gov/

The Virginia Senate meets in this stately building in Richmond.

It’s been a big week for all things prenatal in the Virginia Legislature. Earlier we saw the resolution of the controversy over a bill that would have required women in the Old Dominion to undergo invasive ultrasound procedures before having abortions, and Thursday, the state Senate made another big decision about reproductive law, at least for the time being.  —KA

AP via ABC7:

A bill that would define life as starting at conception is dead for this year in Virginia.

The Senate voted 24-14 Thursday to send the so-called “personhood” bill back to committee and carry it over to 2013.

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By cmontefu@live.com, February 26, 2012 at 9:46 am Link to this comment

Another topic is a completely selfless society here is a example of a break from that idea.When rights and equal treatment have left the building.Giving the woman all of the rights in conception is taking away the rights of the father and the child.It also eliminates any responsibility’s of the woman to the man or the child.Rights are ours and no one gives them to us we all have them and with them come responsibility .Acting only for your self interest is acceptable to save your life but not when you are taking away someone else’s rights for self interest.A innocent life seems to not matter as this goes forward life itself is cheapened .Their are consequences of our actions and they must be paid for all of us to have rights.

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By cmontefu@live.com, February 26, 2012 at 9:23 am Link to this comment

H

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By Rodney, February 25, 2012 at 7:34 am Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)

People need to understand what all of this is about.
America is losing it’s majority white population.
White men,especially southern evangelical white men
hate to see a non white majority. They would rather
America burn in hell!So not only do that want to stop
all white women from having abortions, unless they
are pregnant by Donte or Miguel, they don’t want
white women to even have access to birth control. It
all feeds in together with their immigration policy.
Because once there is no longer a white majority,
most of their racist BS will stop. They can no longer
control the Presidency. The election of Barak Obama
has scared the shit of southern racists and white men
in general. And the vow to never let it happen
again.It starts with birth control. It continues with
the changing of election laws throughout America.

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By Maani, February 24, 2012 at 5:02 pm Link to this comment

The VA legislature has now also pulled back from the even more outrageous “conception” bill.

But let’s call this what it is: an election year realization that GOP attacks on women is a losing strategy, and the only way they can salvage the situation is to pull back as quickly as possible.

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By Big B, February 24, 2012 at 1:03 pm Link to this comment

Jim Yell

Remember back in the 1980’s when everybody used to say that Ronny Ray-Guns and Ed Meese cared for all the unborn, but once you were jettisoned from yours mothers womb, fuck you kid, you’re on your own?

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By sharonsj, February 24, 2012 at 10:36 am Link to this comment

I understand they changed the wording so that only an ultrasound is required, with no mention of what kind, with a demand for fetus information.  But according to medical info, a regular ultrasound in the early months doesn’t give the required information—only the transvaginal probe does.

This is supposed to shift the requirement (i.e. blame) from the legislature to the doctor….  So the Repubs are still trying to get it passed.

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By Jim Yell, February 24, 2012 at 8:38 am Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)

As I have observed frequently a group of people who call themselves “Right To Life” and yet do not support programs to feed poor children, to educate children, to provide proper living standards, well “how can they call themselves “Right To Life” The motivation for these people is not an acute sensitivity to Life, but a wish to create poverty and to leave the poor totally without recourse to the brutalilty of Religion and Government. They are a fraud.

The Bible makes a distinction between the born and the unborn fetus. In the Bible it says that a pregnant woman who dies due to mischief is murder, while the loss of a pregnancy requires only payment to the husband of a fine for the loss of the possible child. There is no reason to grant the feritilzed egg humanity. It is a stupid ploy by narrow minded and misguided people.

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By Big B, February 24, 2012 at 7:49 am Link to this comment

This legislation will not be stopped by the voting public. Oh no, it will be stopped by the insurance industry. Can you imagine insurance companies paying for health and yes, life insurance for a fertilized egg or zygote?

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By Marian Griffith, February 24, 2012 at 1:41 am Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)

It would be hilarious if the utter lack of understanding of biology were not so evident in this and similar laws.

If this law were to get into effect the state would be required to immediately arrest every woman over the age of 18 (unless they can proof their virginity I suppose… Wonder when they will vote for girls being stripped naked on the market place every year to have their hymen checked in public…) on charges of multiple homicide. And every man in the state as their accomplishes.
After all, in their complete ignorance of biology they, seem not to realise that 3 out of every 4 fertilised eggs spontaneously aborts within a few days after conception. That is on average, as the woman gets older that number goes way up. This clearly makes every woman a mass murdered of countless unborn children.
And I won’t even go into the implications it has on women’s freedom. After all an active life style or severe stress may also threaten to prevent an embryo (though it really more closely resembles a clump of bacteria at that point) from settling in the lining of the vagina, and it might cause a spontaneous abortion. Since that is the woman’s choice and would under this law amount to murder it is surely best to place every woman in protective custody and forbid her to leave the house unless she is accompanied by her husband or adult male relative? Oh, and maybe we should mandate they be dressed in black sheets from head to toe as well. Just to protect her you know ...

The harsh biological reality is that before 22 weeks the survival chances of a premature birth vary between abysmal and non-existent. Before 24 weeks the chance of survival goes up but typically with severe to extreme physical and/or mental deformation (i.e. the child may survive but is likely to be institutionalised for the rest of its life). After 24 weeks the chances of survival go up steadily until at about 4 weeks before it is carried to term there is a reasonable chance that the baby may survive even without expensive and extensive neo-natal care. Our biology puts the viability of human life at about 32 weeks after conception. Technology has pushed that back to 24 weeks (at great emotional and financial cost and risk).

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By berniem, February 23, 2012 at 5:08 pm Link to this comment

I assume that when exclusions are made to defining “personhood” reactionary politicians will top the list! FREE BRADLEY MANNING!!!!

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