There’s a lot of talk about how Creigh Deeds has “raised the issue of abortion” in this year’s race for Governor.
But, as I told the Women for Deeds rally this morning, concerns go well beyond the often divisive issue of abortion. Here are some other issues:
In 2004, Delegate James Dillard patroned HB 1015, a bill to teach public school students how to avoid sexual assault and what actions to take if they did become victims. It was passed into law, but Bob McDonnell voted against it.
In 2005, I carried a bill that was designed to help reduce some of the controversy over abortion. The goal of HB 2855 was to say simply that contraception was not the same as abortion. That’s it. That’s all it did.
It was sent to the House Courts of Justice Committee, chaired by then-Delegate McDonnell. And there it languished. Until the very last day, when it was re-referred to another committee—one that would not meet again. Voting to kill the bill was Chairman McDonnell. I learned that Bob McDonnell had killed the bill once before—when Senator Whipple’s SB 1104 came before the Courts committee in 2003. His, by the way, was the deciding vote.
So you see, it’s not just abortion. It’s birth control. It’s access to information and to contraception.
There are many issues and differences that need to be articulated in this campaign–thanks for highlighting some important distinctions. There is a world of difference between these two candidates that must be explained and explored.
The message I get from this post is “It’s okay to use legislative tricks to get what you want, but not to stop what you want.”
And “you’re wrong if you vote against something that passes.”
You don’t need legislation to define dictionary words (HB 2855).
So nice to see campaigning in a “General Assembly from the perspective of …” blog.