UPDATE: 1 abortion restriction fails; another advances

2:12 p.m.

A bill to defund state-paid abortions for low-income women expecting a child with “gross and totally incapacitating physical deformity or mental deficiency” is likely to pass the House of Delegates Friday after advancing today.

House Bill 62, introduced by Del. Mark L. Cole, R-Spotsylvania, would repeal a section of state code authorizing the Board of Health to fund such abortions for women who meet the financial requirements for medical assistance.

Cole said that the bill is essentially a state version of the Hyde Amendment -- a legislative provision named for former Rep. Henry Hyde of Illinois -- that bars the use of certain federal funds to pay for abortions.

Democrats argue against the measure for the impact it could have on women with no financial means.

“Think about the human beings behind this,” said Del. Vivian E. Watts, D-Fairfax, pointing to the “tremendous burden borne by someone on Medicaid” if the child is born in such a condition.

“I’m sad to see that today we have no compassion for the poor,” added Del. Charniele L. Herring, D-Alexandria, saying the bill would “cut the safety net from poor women.”  

(This has been a breaking news update. Check back for more details as they become available. An earlier update on the Senate Health Committee action is posted below. Read more in tomorrow's Richmond Times-Dispatch.)

12:17 p.m.

A bill that would have prohibited Virginia women from having an abortion beyond 20 weeks failed to emerge from the Senate Education and Health Committee today on a tie vote.

The vote was 7-7 on Senate Bill 637 sponsored by Sen. Mark D. Obenshain R-Harrisonburg. Sen. Harry B. Blevins, R-Chesapeake, abstained, deadlocking the measure in the committee, where Republicans hold an 8-7 advantage.

The vote followed conflicting testimony over at what point during gestation a fetus can feel pain. The proposed 20-week limit was predicated on the assumption that fetuses can feel pain beyond 20 weeks, but other citations suggest that does not occur until at least 24 weeks, or roughly the beginning of the third trimester.

In Virginia abortions are permitted up to a physician's determination of viability, typically 24 to 25 weeks at the end of the second trimester.

Tara Schleifer, 42, of Haymarket in Prince William County, tearfully recalled her own abortion as she spoke against the bill.

The tie vote, stalling the bill, is a blow for abortion opponents and Republicans who on Wednesday advanced legislation through the full Senate that would require women seeking an abortion to first have an ultrasound.

Women's rights advocates were encouraged by the vote on the bill, which they had termed unconstitutional and an invasion of a woman's right to choose.