'Morning after' pill bill
allows minors access
The Senate passed a version
of the 'morning after' pill bill that would allow women easier access
to emergency contraception and would not require minors to get parental
permission, according to the Richmond
Times-Dispatch.
The Senate voted to leave
off a House provision requiring parental consent for minors to get
the drug.
If the bill had been passed
with the amendment, "Virginia stood to lose $4 million in federal
funds for family planning," Delegate Viola O. Baskerville, the bill's
sponsor, said yesterday.
Family planning aid would
be cut if the amendment was passed because the federal family planning
program involved prohibits clinics that get the money from requiring
parental involvement.
The bill, without the amendment,
will go back to the House for a vote.
If the bill passes, pharmacists
would be able to give out drugs sold as "emergency contraception"
without a prescription. The bill would also let doctors and nurse
practitioners directly hand out the pills, which prevent pregnancy
if taken within 72 hours of having unprotected sex. The 'morning after'
pill contains high doses of the same hormones found in birth control
pills.
If the bill becomes law,
Virginia would be the first state after Washington to allow women
access to emergency birth control without a doctor's prescription.
The Senate passed the bill
yesterday 25-12. The House voted 58-40 earlier this month.
Both houses pass legislation
to restrict teen driving
The General Assembly restricted teen driving privileges
this week with a bill that raises the driving age and limits passengers
and driving times, The Virginian-Pilot
reported.
Delegate Terrie L. Suit, R-Virginia Beach, voted
against the bill. "You don't instill a sense of responsibility
in people by taking responsibility away from them,'' she said. "This
is just a feel-good bill from a bunch of adults.''
The House of Delegates passed the measure Tuesday
after the Senate approved the same bill on Monday.
The compromise legislation would increase the
age for a learner's permit from 15 to 15 and a half. The age for a
driver's license would also increase from 16 to 16 and 3 months.
Under the bill, police would have to stop drivers
for some other violation first before citing them for violating the
teen driving restrictions.
The bill passed 68 to 31.
Senate blocks budget in
dispute over car-tax cut
The Senate once again blocked
the House Republicans' budget proposal Tuesday, adding fuel to the
fight among the legislators, according to The
Roanoke Times.
"There has been absolutely
no willingness on the part of the Senate to compromise on anything,
may it be large or small," said Delegate Lacey Putney, I-Bedford,
one of four House members on the conference committee.
The Senate has turned away
four House budget proposals citing too much debt and unreasonable
cuts for education and teacher's salaries.
House leaders want the
state's $50 billion spending plan to include a car tax reduction of
70 percent for this year and 100 percent for next year. The
Senate members are refusing to give ground on their position of limiting
the car tax reduction to 50 percent this year and 70 percent next
year.
Legislators face the possibility
of not resolving the budget this session, which by default would enact
the current two-year budget. That budget includes the 70 percent reduction
in the car tax that Gov. Jim Gilmore and House Republicans want.
Tuesday had been the deadline
for the Republican-controlled Legislature to come to an agreement
on the budget.
