On Tuesday, the Virginia Senate approved a controversial proposal that would require women seeking an abortion to get an external ultrasound prior to the procedure. The vote was 21 to 19, a week after the Va. Republican Gov. Robert F. McDonnell asked legislators to amend the bill after people protested on Capitol Square. The original bill demanded that women undergo a transvaginal ultrasound, a procedure which requires women be inserted with a vaginal instrument.
Senators Phillip P. Puckett (Russell) and Charles J. Colgan (Prince William), both Democrats, voted with Republicans in favor of the measure. Senator John C. Watkins, Republican, voted with Democrats against the proposal. In a passionate debate held on Tuesday, Democrats argued that the ultrasound procedure would be unconstitutional and costly, and the bill was simply designed to discourage women from seeking abortions. Democratic Senator L. Louise Lucas (Portsmouth) said, “Women who want to have abortions will go to back alleys. Women will die. They are not going to let you tell them what to do with their bodies.” The original version of the bill was described as “state rape” and the new version as “state assault” by Democratic Senator Janet D. Howell (Fairfax). Howell said, “Very rarely do I get angry, but I am angry about this bill. It reflects an attitude that is demeaning to women. It presumes the legislature — which as we look around is virtually all male — knows better what should happen to a woman’s body than the woman herself and her physician.”
