THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, August 12, 1994 TAG: 9408120013
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A18 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Letter
LENGTH: Short : 40 lines
Regarding ``Embattled N.C. clinic to open Beach facility'' (news, Aug. 2):
It is legal in Virginia to have an abortion until the moment of birth. The Virginia Code Section 18.2-74 sets the conditions for third-trimester abortions. These include:
1. The abortion must be performed in a hospital.
2. The attending physician and two consulting physicians must enter into hospital record that the pregnancy is likely to result in death of the women or ``substantially . . . impair the mental or physical health of the women.''
This second important condition, as clarified by the Supreme Court's 1973 Doe vs. Bolten decision, interpreted health ``to include all factors - physical, emotional, psychological, familial and the women's age - relevant to the well-being of the patient.''
The precedent set by Doe and the absence of state-sponsored proscriptions left Virginia with one of the most permissive, unrestrictive abortion laws in the nation.
The last condition for later-term abortion is that life-saving equipment be available and utilized ``if there is any clearly visible evidence of viability.'' Restated: If the abortion fails to produce a dead infant, then you must give him or her life-supporting efforts.
This law, although frequently misquoted, is still the status quo in Virginia.
According to the Virginia Department of Health's Vital Statistics Division, the latest figures for 1991 indicate that 244 abortions took place at 20 weeks of gestation or beyond!
KELLY SUE McNEAL
Chesapeake, Aug. 4, 1994 by CNB