THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, March 6, 1996 TAG: 9603060626
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ROBERT LITTLE, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium: 87 lines
Bolstered by gains from last fall's election, abortion opponents are forcing a showdown in the Virginia legislature that could restrict abortions for minors and grant new stature to the unborn.
The fight involves two issues related to the protection of unborn babies: Parental notification when minors seek abortions, and ``feticide'' - making the killing of a fetus by means other than legal abortion a felony akin to first-degree murder.
Both measures passed one house of the legislature this year only to fail in another. But supporters are straining the General Assembly rules in ways that should vault the issues to the forefront in the waning days of this year's lawmaking session.
While some call all the parliamentary flexing foul play, the chief strategists are unapologetic. And they are increasingly confidentthat the state's political climate has shifted enough to make tighter restrictions on abortions a new possibility.
``I'm very optimistic and hopeful,'' said Republican Sen. Mark L. Earley, one of the legislature's chief proponents of parental notification. ``I've been very encouraged.''
``I think any of the procedural things that are allowed in the rules are fair.''
A social conservative from Chesapeake, Earley ignited much of this year's debate - offering bills on both feticide and parental notification. And he has kept it smoldering despite numerous setbacks.
The legislature's new partisan design has helped. Republican gains in the Senate give abortion opponents key votes on the usually innocuous Senate Rules Committee, which could be the only thing keeping parental notification out of the lawbooks.
Parental notification is a perennial legislative issue, and twice has passed the General Assembly in some form.
Gov. L. Douglas Wilder vetoed a version he called too strict. Gov. George F. Allen vetoed one he called too weak.
The House already passed a bill this year requiring doctors to notify the parents of any patient under 18 before performing an abortion on her. It was killed in the Senate Education and Health Committee, a panel some argue has long been stacked specifically to defeat anti-abortion legislation.
After Tuesday's floor session, Allen used his executive prerogative to submit a virtually identical bill to the Senate. It, too, was referred to the Education and Health Committee.
But Earley invoked a rule requiring the Senate Rules Committee to reconsider and send it to a friendlier committee that would likely vote to make it law. He tried the same thing and failed with an earlier version, though two votes against him came from members who oppose abortions.
Asked why he would bother waging the same Rules Committee battle he lost once before, Earley smiled and said: ``Stay tuned.''
The heightened prospects of passage have elevated the tension in a debate typically among the legislature's most emotional.
``This is about whether the parents are the final arbiters of children,'' said Sen. Stephen D. Newman, R-Lynchburg, a freshman whose election buoyed the anti-abortion effort.
``I think it would be terrible for us to try to impose the will of a male-dominated General Assembly on these females,'' said Fairfax Sen. Richard L. Saslaw, Democrat floor leader. ``That's what we're telling them - girls, we know what's best for you.''
The feticide bill was offered in response to a Chesapeake case in which a pregnant woman was murdered. It would make the premeditated slaying of an unborn child - if it is deemed viable by the courts - punishable like first-degree murder.
Though not technically a bill about abortion, the concept has troubled lawmakers who fear it breaks centuries-old precedent by granting legal rights to unborn babies.
The House of Delegates rejected the bill at the committee level, but Earley successfully tagged the concept onto an unrelated measure that already passed the House.
``It was a vehicle to keep the bill before the House,'' said Earley.
``It got completely sandbagged,'' said Sen. Louise Lucas, D-Portsmouth, who opposes the idea.
Both issues could come to a head as early as today, and must be settled by Saturday when the legislature adjourns for the year. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
Sen. Mark L. Earley of Chesapeake has been a leading proponent of
tightening abortion rules.
KEYWORDS: GENERAL ASSEMBLY ABORTIONS by CNB