BY CHELYEN DAVIS
THE FREE LANCE-STAR

RICHMOND—The House of Delegates has advanced a bill that would bar state money from being spent on abortions for poor women whose fetuses are severely or fatally deformed. The bill comes from Del. Mark Cole, R–Spotsylvania, and would repeal a provision of the state code that would cover abortions for women in the state’s Medicaid program if a doctor certifies the fetus “will be born with a gross and totally incapacitating physical deformity or with a gross and totally incapacitating mental deficiency.”
The Virginia Department of Health reported 10 such abortions for women in the state medical assistance plan in 2011, costing a total of $2,784. In 2010, 23 such abortions cost the state $14,681.
Cole said his bill conforms Virginia law to federal practice. In committee, he said it would also spare people who are morally opposed to abortions from having their tax money pay for them.
In that committee, several women testified that they had terminated their preg nancies after doctors told them their babies were severely deformed and unlikely to survive. It was, they said, the hardest decision of their lives.
Del. Vivian Watts, D– Arlington, said her daughter-in-law also had such a termination after doctors determined her baby had severe spina bifida and the brain tissue was being sucked into the spinal column.
Her daughter-in-law could afford the medical bills, Watts said. But not everyone can.
“These are real people who are trying to do the right thing,” Watts said. “I urge you, please, as you look at this, think about the human beings behind this. Because should a fetus survive to birth, the tremendous burden that we are saying that must be borne by someone on Medicaid who doesn’t have the resources, the emo tional and, yes, financial burden, will be extreme.”
Del. Charniele Herring, D–Alexandria, said the bill will “cut the safety net for poor women.
“I’m sad to see that today we have no compassion for the poor, and I’m sad to see that today we’ve decided to treat poor women in this way,” Herring said.
The House advanced the bill on a voice vote; a recorded, final vote will happen Friday. The bill will then go to the Senate.

Chelyen Davis: 804/343-2245 cdavis@freelancestar.com