ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, January 31, 1997 TAG: 9701310071
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-5 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: General Assembly Notebook
DATELINE: RICHMOND
SOURCE: ROBERT LITTLE AND LAURA LAFAY STAFF WRITERS
The Senate Education and Health Committee voted 9-5 Thursday against a bill that would have banned so-called "partial-birth" late-term abortions.
(Two Western Virginia senators sit on the panel: John Edwards, D-Roanoke, voted against the bill; Steve Newman, R-Lynchburg, voted in favor).
Sponsor Sen. Mark Earley, R-Chesapeake, called the procedure "the closest thing to infanticide that we could invent."
Opponents said the procedure is virtually never performed, but that the bill might be interpreted to prohibit other legal abortions. Regardless, they said it would intimidate doctors who perform standard abortions by threatening court action to prove their procedure is legal.
"Why can't we trust women?" asked Sen. Edd Houck, D-Spotsylvania County. "Why is it we always portray women to be these villains? Why would we want to put the government in the middle of a woman trying to wrestle with that decision?"
A registered nurse from Dayton, Ohio, testified before Thursday's vote that she has witnessed the partial-birth procedure. Brenda Pratt Shafer has since become an activist, appearing before Congress and legislative committees to denounce the procedure.
Several opponents said they tried to find a woman who had undergone the partial-birth procedure but could not.
Earley's bill was nearly identical to one that passed Congress last year and was vetoed by President Clinton. Earley promised to bring the bill back next year if Congress doesn't pass a federal law.
Prescription bill advances
The Senate Education and Health Committee approved a bill to prohibit health maintenance organizations from paying physicians a commission or rebate to convince doctors to switch to a medicine other than the one prescribed.
The Education and Health Committee also approved a bill that would prohibit pharmacies from giving patients drugs that are chemically different than what doctors prescribed simply because they are cheaper.
With a 12-2 vote, the committee sent the "drug-switching" bill to the full Senate.
Health care companies argued that the switches aren't being made without doctors' consent and that they simply offer a way to take advantage of bulk-sale prices and to reduce consumer costs.
House repeals medical pot
Thursday morning, newspapers across the country carried the news that the respected New England Journal of Medicine came out in favor of allowing doctors to prescribe marijuana for medical purposes.
Thursday afternoon, Virginia's delegates overwhelmingly repealed a 1979 law allowing doctors to prescribe marijuana for cancer or glaucoma patients.
The bill by Del. Robert Marshall, R-Manassas, sailed through the House 86-13 and now goes to the Senate.
Virginia's law was largely forgotten until California and Arizona passed similar measures. The Clinton administration threatened to revoke the prescription-writing privileges of doctors in those states if they prescribe marijuana.
White House drug czar Barry McCaffrey has endorsed the repeal of Virginia's law.
Del. Morgan Griffith, R-Salem, acknowledged that Marshall's bill is likely to please the general public in a year when all 100 House seats will be up for election. But he said repealing medical marijuana might not be the right thing to do.
``This law has been on the books since '79, and it hasn't caused a problem,'' he said.
Del. Kenneth Melvin, D-Portsmouth, agreed. He said the bill is ``a knee-jerk reaction to something going on on the other coast.''
But Del. Robert McDonnell, R-Virginia Beach, said the same compound that supposedly gives medical value to smoked marijuana is available in tablet form. And he said other, more effective, drugs are available for cancer and glaucoma patients.
Gov. George Allen supports the bill.
In other action
* The Senate voted 33-6 to pass a bill rewriting the unemployment insurance tax formula to save businesses $200million over six years. The bill, pushed by Gov. George Allen, was sponsored by Sen. Jack Reasor, D-Bluefield.
* The Senate voted 20-18 to pass a bill, sponsored by Del. Creigh Deeds, D-Warm Springs, requiring drivers to turn on their headlights whenever their windshield wipers are in use because of fog, rain, sleet or snow.
Council showdown looms
A movement to weaken the governor's power to appoint State Council of Higher Education members is still on the move, but barely.
The House voted 50-46 to send the bill to the next step for a final vote, likely today.
Gov. George Allen said through a spokeswoman that he likely will veto the bill if it passes.
The governor now appoints all 11 members of the education council. The bill by Del. Alan Diamonstein, D-Newport News, would give the governor six appointments and the legislature's Joint Rules Committee five.
Diamonstein said the Allen-dominated council has not supplied reliable information to the General Assembly. Republicans said the bill is a partisan slap at Allen.
Quote of the day
"There are not enough pine trees in this commonwealth to provide the pulp needed for the number of studies that are going on today"
- Sen. Charles Hawkins, R-Chatham, responding to the suggestion that one of his bills be studied for a year.
What's next
Today's floor sessions begin at noon. The House plans a Saturday floor session.
With the deadline for each house to act on its own bills looming Tuesday, legislators are putting in long hours to deal with the 2,950 bills that faced them in this 46-day session. Some committees and subcommittees are meeting as early as 7 a.m., others as late as 8 p.m.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
LENGTH: Long : 117 lines KEYWORDS: GENERAL ASSEMBLY 1997by CNB