02.16.01

By Tara L. Stubblefield

The Virginia Senate on Friday passed a bill that would require women to wait 24 hours to have an abortion. Gov. Jim Gilmore said he intends to sign the bill into law, making an abortion a multiday process effective July 1.

The bill passed on a 24-15 vote. It requires a woman seeking an abortion to be given information about her options, wait 24 hours and then have the procedure.

All Republican senators except Sen. Warren Barry, R-Fairfax, voted for the bill.

The Democrats who voted for the waiting period were: Sen. Charles Colgan, D-Prince William; Sen. Henry Maxwell, D-Newport News; and Sen. Phillip Puckett, D-Russell. Sen. Benjamin Lambert, D-Richmond, was the only senator to abstain from voting.

Richmond Democrat Sen. Henry Marsh voted against the bill.

The bill was sponsored by Delegate Robert F. McDonnell, R-Virginia Beach.

Since mid-January, when the bill was introduced, members of both the Senate and the House of Delegates have debated the issue feverishly.

However, before the Senate voted on the measure Friday, only one senator commented on the bill. Sen. Mary Margaret Whipple, D-Arlington, said the same objections from previous debates over the bill still apply.

Virginia would be one of 16 states implementing the waiting period for abortions.