Barry Joins Democrats to Kill Informed Consent Bill Compares Unborn Child to Diseased Gall Bladder

State Senator Warren Barry (R-Fairfax) joined with the seven Democrats on the Senate Education and Health Committee to kill HB 1482 which would require informed written consent prior to an abortion. The other seven Republicans on the committee voted for the bill. (See vote S1 in voting table.)

Pro-life expectations were high that the history of legislative defeats in this committee would not be repeated in view of the revised make-up of the committee. However, two legislators unexpectedly switched their votes. Senator Benjamin Lambert (D-Richmond), who previously had a straight pro-abortion voting record, voted for the informed consent bill in 1999, but reverted back to a pro-abortion vote this year. A much greater surprise was the new committee chairman, Senator Barry, who had consistently supported this same legislation in the past. At the conclusion of the committee hearing, he justified his negative vote by saying he was concerned about turning a civil matter into a criminal offense. This was confusing since there are no criminal penalties in the bill!

The informed consent bill, also known as "A Woman's Right to Know," would require a woman considering an abortion not only to be told the medical risks of the abortion procedure itself, but also to be offered information on its alternatives and on scientifically accurate medical facts about the development of her unborn child, prior to her making a decision on having an abortion. A physician who fails to comply would be subject to a $2,500 civil penalty.

HB 1482 began in the House of Delegates where the chief patron was Delegate Bob McDonnell (R-Virginia Beach). The House overwhelmingly passed the bill on a vote of 64-35 (see vote H1). The bill then went to the Senate where it was assigned to the Education and Health Committee.

Virginia Governor James Gilmore had included this bill in his legislative program for the year and made a point of including it in his message to the legislature at the beginning of the session. He was disappointed in the Senate committee's action and made an attempt to revive the bill by reconstituting it to address the jurisdiction of the courts, while still including all of the informed consent provisions. In this way, the Governor's new bill could be assigned to the Senate Courts of Justice Committee which would more likely report the bill to the Senate floor. However Senate Clerk Susan Clarke Schaar ruled that the new bill, SB 781, still belonged in the Education and Health Committee, where it also was killed by an 8-7 vote (see vote S2).

Committee Chairman Barry again provided the deciding vote but gave a different reason this time for opposing the bill. "Just the idea that you're going to say to somebody, 'I want to show you a fetus in two-week increments before you have an abortion,' I think becomes an obstruction to what the law of the land is,'' he said, according to the Associated Press. "We don't require people who are having their gall bladder removed to look at pictures of diseased gall bladders.''

Contrary to Senator Barry's comment, the bill does not require a woman to view this information and she may decline the offer if she wishes.

VSHL State Legislation Chairman Fiona Givens commented, "This bill is critical for the welfare of women in the commonwealth who are contemplating an abortion. They will continue to make this decision in a virtual informational vacuum, and the results will be disastrous."

Published in VSHL Lifesaver, April 2000