LEGISLATORS GET ABORTION INFORMATION BILL

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, January 29, 1993                   TAG: 9301290249
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B-4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: RICHMOND                                LENGTH: Medium
LEGISLATORS GET ABORTION INFORMATION BILL
Women who suffered physical complications or depression after an abortion said Thursday that others could be spared similar problems if the General Assembly approves an expanded "informed consent" bill.
Del. Stephen Martin, R-Richmond, is sponsoring the bill, which would require doctors to inform women about risks and alternatives to abortion at least 24 hours before performing the procedure.
Doctors also would have to tell women the probable gestational age of the fetus and inform them they have the right to review scientific information about fetal development. State law now requires informed consent, but the term is not defined and there is no waiting period.
"My entire counseling consisted of a nurse asking me, `Are you sure this is what you wanted to do,' " said Beth Luteran, chairwoman of Feminists for Life in the Washington, D.C., area. "I was not informed that at four weeks my baby's heart was beating."
Luteran, who said she had the abortion nine years ago when she was 18 and living in Pennsylvania, said: "Women have a right to be informed. To deny women this information is patronizing and manipulative at best . . . scandalous at worst."
Lori Metree of Chesapeake said her life "was severely traumatized" by her 1983 abortion. "I don't believe if I had been informed about the reality of abortion I would have considered having one."
Several other women who said they regretted having abortions joined Martin at his news conference to discuss the bill. Martin said that under his bill, doctors who violate its provisions for a second time would be guilty of a misdemeanor. However, he said he is discussing with the medical profession whether to remove the criminal penalty.
Planned Parenthood Advocates of Virginia opposes the bill.
"There is no legitimate, or medical, purpose for an additional waiting period," the organization said in a news release. "Women think about abortion . . . long before they show up for their appointments."
In other legislative news, House Majority Leader Richard Cranwell, D-Vinton, and Del. Robert Hull, D-Falls Church, outlined a bill that would make carjacking a separate crime, subject to a mandatory sentence of 15 years to life in prison. The crime need not be committed with a weapon, Cranwell said.
If a death results, the offender would be guilty of a felony subject to a maximum life term.
"Especially in urban areas, carjacking has become the crime of current fashion," Cranwell said at a news conference. "This sends a message to people: It's not just a Sunday lark. If you do it, you're going to do time."
Thursday also was the day that senators paraded before Sen. Hunter Andrews, D-Hampton, chairman of the Finance Committee, to ask for special projects for their districts.
Requests totaled $328 million, Andrews said, adding that House budget amendment requests added up to $1.3 billion.
Some of the requests were for James Madison, Christopher Newport and Radford universities; more sheriff's deputies in various districts; and U.S. 58.

by Bhavesh Jinadra by CNB