Half Changed World

Ema at the Well-Timed Period writes:

"The saga of HB 1677 has made me realize that the lives and health of tens of millions of women are literally at the mercy of legislators of Del. Cosgrove’s caliber. This realization is enough to subdue even the most optimistic person.  [By all means, if you were already aware of the existence of legislators like the Delegate, please, carry on with the celebration.]"

I knew that there were legislators like Cosgrove, here in Virginia and even in more "enlightened" states.  That doesn’t even depress me all that much; while they can introduce bills like this, they’re unlikely to get them passed.

What depresses me is that Tim Kaine, who is running unopposed for the Democratic nomination for Governor of Virginia (we have odd year elections) argues that the "partial-birth" (e.g. dilation and extraction) abortion ban should have an exception for the life and health of the mother — but only because the Supreme Court has ruled that such laws are unconstitutional without them.  Reading his letter to the editor, I’m left with the impression that he would have opposed such an exception if it weren’t for that meddling federal court.

Chap Petersen, who is one of the leading contenders for the Lieutenant Governor position, also has taken some positions that I’m pretty horrified by.  In addition to supporting the ban on dilation and extraction (without an exception for the life and health of the mother), he also opposed the recommendation that the feticide bill be amended to clarify that it should not be construed as limiting the right to an abortion.  And he voted for HB751, the anti-civil-union bill that became law last year. (To be fair, he did introduce a bill today, HB2940, that would amend that law to say that it "shall not abridge the right of any person to enter into a lawful contract that pertains to the ownership or devising of joint property, the maintenance of personal health, or the protection of private assets. ")

If that’s what the Democratic candidates look like, I’m more than depressed; I’m scared.

(Most of these legislative links are thanks to Maura‘s posting on Daily Kos.  Thanks.)

This entry was posted on Thursday, January 13th, 2005 at 7:35 pm and is filed under Reproductive rights and choices, Virginia politics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.