The Virginia House has just passed an alternate abortion bill that would not necessarily require a highly-invasive and controversial transvaginal ultrasound, but still requires a woman to consent to and receive an external ultrasound, and require her to pay for it, along with multiple travels to a health care provider and incur an additional time investment. Opponents of the original bill called it “state sponsored rape,” given the FBI’s new definition of rape that requires unwanted penetration.
Governor Bob McDonnell earlier today asked the state lawmakers to alter the bill, which has now passed and is presumably on its way to the Senate. McDonnell is widely expected to sign the alternate bill.
“Mandating an invasive procedure in order to give informed consent is not a proper role for the state,†McDonnell had said earlier this afternoon in a statement. “No person should be directed to undergo an invasive procedure by the state, without their consent, as a precondition to another medical procedure.â€