Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, February 12, 1992 TAG: 9202120336
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BONNIE V. WINSTON STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium
HOUSE OKS BILL BANNING ABORTION BLOCKADES
Hoping to put the brakes on protests at abortion clinics, the House of Delegates approved a bill Tuesday that would make it a crime to intentionally block access to health clinics.Under the bill, which passed 54-44, the first offense would be a misdemeanor, punishable by up to 12 months in jail and/or a $2,500 fine. Subsequent convictions within three years would be felonies, carrying a possible term of up to five years in prison.
Del. Leslie Byrne, D-Falls Church, an ardent advocate of abortion rights, sponsored the measure primarily because of problems with protests at several Northern Virginia abortion clinics.
There have also been protests at the Roanoke Medical Center for Women. Two years ago, more than 30 people were arrested after they blocked the doors and refused to move until the clinic promised there would be no more abortions that day.
While opponents of the bill decried the measure as criminalizing free speech, Byrne said that many protesters go beyond legal bounds.
"We are not talking about just speech," she argued. "They are physically taking Dumpsters and blocking entrances. They are pushing, shoving, threatening and intimidating women and men who are going into clinics."
But Del. David Brickley, D-Woodbridge, said convicting someone of a felony, which would cause a loss of voting rights, is too high a price to extract for dissent.
Others also argued that protesters currently can be charged under trespass laws, and if they threaten and push clinic visitors, then assault laws can be used.
"If a union did the same thing in this state, we'd have the state police out there quicker than a duck on a June bug," Byrne responded. "We have the right to be left alone. We can't have this terrorism left unfettered."
The measure now goes to the Senate.
In another abortion vote, the first by the Senate this session, senators voted 25-14 to reject a bill by Sen. Robert Russell, R-Chesterfield. The bill would have barred surrogate mothers from getting abortions if they decided to renege on the surrogacy contract.
"If you change your mind and take a walk, the child cannot be terminated like the contract was," Russell said.
Sen. Richard Saslaw, D-Springfield, said the bill "could force a woman to carry a pregnancy full term against her will."
"This will come back and get you," he told senators.
The Senate also voted 25-14 to defeat an effort by Sen. Mark Earley, R-Chesapeake, to repeal the law regulating surrogate motherhood contracts. He said the law that takes effect next year will encourage surrogacy instead of adoption.
Associated Press contributed some information to this story.
\ YEA OR NAY\ ON ENDING ABORTION CLINIC BLOCKADES\ IN FAVOR: Dels. Richard Cranwell, D-Vinton; Creigh Deeds, D-Warm Springs; Willard Finney, D-Rocky Mount; Thomas Jackson, D-Hillsville; G.C. Jennings, D-Marion; Joseph Johnson, D-Abingdon; Joan Munford, D-Blacksburg; Clifton Woodrum, D-Roanoke.\ OPPOSED: Dels. Steven Agee, R-Salem; Ward Armstrong, D-Martinsville; Tommy Baker, R-Radford; Lacey Putney, I-Bedford; Roscoe Reynolds, D-Martinsville; Victor Thomas, D-Roanoke.
YEA OR NAY\ ON BARRING SURROGATES' ABORTIONS\ \ IN FAVOR: Sens. Virgil Goode, D-Rocky Mount; William Wampler, R-Bristol. OPPOSED: Sens. Brandon Bell, R-Roanoke; Madison Marye, D-Shawsville; Frank Nolen, D-New Hope; Jack Reasor, D-Bluefield; Elliott Schewel, D-Lynchburg, Malfourd "Bo" Trumbo, R-Fincastle.
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