Tag Archives: Senate

News

Virginia Republicans pass strict regulations on abortion clinics

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From Life Site News. (This is a piece from the leftist AP, though)

Excerpt:

Virginia took a big step Thursday toward eliminating most of the state’s 21 abortion clinics, approving a bill that would likely make rules so strict the medical centers would be forced to close, Democrats and abortion rights supporters said.

Gov. Bob McDonnell, a Republican and Catholic, supports the measure and when he signs it into law, Virginia will become the first state to require clinics that provide first-trimester abortions to meet the same standards as hospitals. The requirement could include anything from expensive structural changes like widening hallways to increased training and mandatory equipment the clinics currently don’t have.

While abortion providers must be licensed in Virginia, the clinics resemble dentists’ offices and are considered physicians offices, similar to those that provide plastic and corrective eye surgeries, colonoscopies and a host of other medical procedures.

Democrats and abortion rights supporters said the change would put an estimated 17 of the state’s 21 clinics out of business. Most of the clinics also provide birth control, cancer screenings and other women’s health services.

[…]Anti-abortion bills typically die in a Democrat-controlled Senate committee, but Republicans in the House tacked it onto a bill that already had passed the Senate. Doing so allowed the bill to sidestep the committee and forced a vote on the Senate floor, where Democrats hold a 22-18 majority.

Two anti-abortion Democrats voted with Republicans, and Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling, a Republican, cast the tie-breaking vote after hours of debate.

After it becomes law in July, the state Board of Health will take public comments before issuing the guidelines. The board is appointed by the governor.

This is the way to do it. Like getting Al Capone on tax evasion.

News

Texas Senate approves pre-abortion ultrasound law

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Melissa posted this Reuters article on Facebook. Read the part in bold.

Excerpt:

The Texas Senate on Thursday approved a measure that would require women seeking an abortion to first get an ultrasound.

Women could choose not to view the sonogram image or listen to the heartbeat, but they would be required to listen to an explanation of the images, except in cases of rape or incest or if there are fetal abnormalities.

Republican Gov. Rick Perry, who had put the legislation on a fast track by declaring it an emergency priority, commended the bill’s advancement.

“Considering the magnitude of the decision to have an abortion, it is crucial that Texans understand what is truly at stake,” Perry said in a statement.

The measure now goes to the Texas House, where it has broad support. The legislation passed out of the Senate in 2007 and 2009 but died in the House. This year, the House has a larger Republican majority.

“This is God’s time to pass this bill,” said the measure’s author, Sen. Dan Patrick, a Houston Republican.

Opponents say that the measure interferes with the doctor-patient relationship and would be traumatic for women in an already difficult situation.

“It’s the most serious decision they’ll ever make in their lives and now you’re trying to put government in the middle of that decision,” said Democratic Sen. John Whitmire of Houston.

[…]Texas is one of several states with strong Republican legislative majorities proposing additional restrictions on abortion.

Eighteen states regulate abortion providers’ provision of ultrasound, according to the Guttmacher Institute. The requirements in those states vary widely; some of them require women to get an ultrasound before an abortion, while others require only that she be offered the chance to see the image if an ultrasound is performed.

Republicans introduced the law, and voted for the law. Democrats opposed the law. Republicans are pro-life. Democrats are pro-abortion.

Neil Simpson has more good news here.

News

Barack Obama offers to cut 775 million from 3,800,000 million budget

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Last Republican budget was in 2007
Last Republican budget was in 2007

From The Hill.

Excerpt:

President Obama’s budget director Jack Lew in a Sunday opinion piece outlined some off the “tough choices” Obama is willing to make to cut spending in his 2012 budget request due out on Feb. 14.

The piece details cuts that affect initiatives dear to the president: programs to help the poor and to clean up the Great Lakes near the president’s home state of Illinois.

The cuts are relatively small, however, in the larger scheme of things. In total, the $775 million in detailed cuts fall far short of demands by congressional Republicans and will do little toward tackling the deficit, which is estimated to be $1.5 trillion this year by the Congressional Budget Office. The cuts are in addition to a five-year spending freeze which the administration says will save $400 billion over the next decade.

[…][Lew] said “this cut is not easy for” Obama.

The 2012 deficit is projected to be 1,500,000 million. TWELVE TIMES what the last Republican budget was back in 2007, when unemployment was at 4.3%. Government spending means taking money away from productive workers and from the businesses that hire those productive workers.

To see a graphical representation of the cuts as a portion of the entire budget, click here. The cuts cannot be seen with the naked eye, so the there are several images in that post, each one more zoomed in than the last.