THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, February 2, 1996 TAG: 9602020435
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium: 97 lines
Legislation to force doctors to notify parents of teenage patients before performing their abortions failed in a state Senate committee Thursday, though supporters say they'll return to the idea this session.
A perennial issue in the Virginia General Assembly, the parental notification measure this year was hailed as a way to reduce child abuse and neglect.
The proposed law would have applied to any young woman under 19 who wanted an abortion. A new clause would have waived the notification requirement if she said her parents or guardians were abusive, however. In those cases, doctors then would have to notify authorities.
During a brief public hearing, supporters offered testimony from a New York woman whose daughter died in 1985 from a botched abortion. If she had told her parents about the procedure, the woman argued, she might have received better care.
Opponents, however, argued that more pregnant teens would run away from home or opt for back-alley abortions under the proposed law.
Required parental notification for abortions routinely passes the House of Delegates in some form, but has consistently faced opposition in the Senate Education and Health Committee. The committee killed the plan 9-6 Thursday, though supporters plan some parliamentary tactics to bring it before the full Senate anyway.
With the chambers' new bipartisan makeup, the bill could fare better.
``We have a commitment to try to get this bill passed any time, any place,'' said Sen. Mark L. Earley, R-Chesapeake, sponsor of the bill.
MAMMOGRAM COVERAGE: The state Senate passed two bills Thursday that would require health insurance companies in Virginia to cover the costs of mammograms and pap smears.
Sen. Kenneth W. Stolle, R-Virginia Beach, offered the bills at the request of some local doctors worried that many women skip the preventative procedures because they can't afford them.
Insurance companies already must offer mammogram coverage as an option. Pap smears are not specifically identified in the law.
Under the proposed laws, any health insurance provider would have to cover the cost of the tests.
``What was happening was that a lot of women were facing serious health risks because of the kind of insurance coverage they had,'' said Stolle.
The bills still must pass the House of Delegates and be signed by the governor, but are not expected to face opposition.
LABOR DISPUTES: Employees who get locked out of their work places during labor disputes can collect unemployment checks under a bill the Senate passed Thursday.
Opponents of the measure, which grew out of a lockout by the Washington Gas Light Co. last summer, portrayed it as an assault on Virginia's right-to-work law.
The bill ``changes Virginia history,'' said Stolle. ``It puts our employers at a disadvantage in negotiating with employees.''
Supporters countered that workers in every southern state except North Carolina and South Carolina can collect such payments.
Rather than boosting workers, ``this is restoring neutrality . . . in this type of disagreement,'' said Sen. Joseph V. Gartlan Jr., D-Alexandria.
The proposal, approved by a 24-16 count, now faces action in the House.
SPEED LIMITS: A Senate committee stalled a proposal Thursday to raise the speed limit to 70 mph on some highways.
The Senate Transportation Committee voted 11-4 to kill the bill. A House committee narrowly approved an identical measure 11-10 earlier in the day, but the Senate committee's action makes chances of final passage slight.
President Clinton signed legislation late last year giving states authority to set their own speed limits. But that doesn't mean states should allow people to drive faster, auto safety and insurance representatives said. They cited national data showing crashes increased as speed limits went up from 55 mph to 65 mph in the late 1980s.
``Although this body can amend the code of Virginia, it cannot amend the laws of physics or make the human body more durable,'' Henry Jasny, legal counsel for the Washington-based Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety, told the Senate committee.
The bill, introduced in the House of Delegates by Del. Jerrauld C. Jones, D-Norfolk, would allow the state transportation department to raise the speed limit for cars and trucks from 65 mph to 70 mph on interstates and some limited-access highways with divided roadways.
The bill also would authorize speeds of up to 65 mph on non-limited-access highways that have at least four lanes. The limit for two-lane highways would remain 55 mph.
The bill has the backing of Gov. George Allen, a Republican who strongly supports returning federal responsibilities to states.
Several states raised their speed limits after the federal limits were repealed in December. Montana lifted the speed limit on its wide-open highways during daytime hours, reverting to a law calling only for ``reasonable and proper'' speed.
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