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Politics : Sharks in the Septic Tank -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Lane3 who wrote (6399)	2/24/2001 11:19:23 AM
From: Lane3	Respond to of 82486

Va. Emergency Birth Control Bill Falters By Craig Timberg and Lisa Rein Washington Post Staff Writers Saturday, February 24, 2001; Page B01 RICHMOND, Feb. 23 -- The Virginia legislature's effort to allow pharmacists to dispense emergency contraceptives without a prescription collapsed today as House and Senate negotiators deadlocked over whether to require that minors first obtain parental consent. Such high-stakes stands were the rule in the General Assembly with just one day to go before adjournment Saturday.<snip> Among those issues unsettled as the legislature headed into its final scheduled day was Senate Bill 1244, requiring candidates to appear prominently in their campaign ads, and Senate Bill 1331, requiring students to say the Pledge of Allegiance. <snip> News that the emergency contraceptives bill was in trouble swept the General Assembly this afternoon, just days after the measure won initial legislative approval. The bill would have allowed women to buy pregnancy-blocking pills within 72 hours of intercourse without a doctor's prescription. Pharmacists, acting under a written agreement with a physician, would be allowed to sell the drugs. Doctors and nurse practitioners not only could prescribe the drugs but also dispense them. The drug regimen contains high doses of the same hormones found in birth control pills. Del. Viola O. Baskerville (D-Richmond), the lead sponsor of House Bill 2782, announced that she would rather see the effort die than take a step backward in Virginia's traditional policy of allowing minors to act as adults when seeking contraceptives or family planning advice. "It would defeat the whole purpose of making reproductive health choices available to teenagers," Baskerville said. Barring a last-minute change of heart by Baskerville -- or by her opponents, who are insisting that teenagers get parental consent -- the bill faces almost certain defeat. The bill enjoyed support in both chambers as supporters argued that it would reduce unwanted pregnancies and abortions. Opponents called it an early form of abortion because in some cases it would block a fertilized egg from becoming properly implanted in the woman's womb. Negotiations today turned on the House's insistence that a teenager show the pharmacist or doctor that she had consent from a parent. In exchanges today, Baskerville offered a compromise requiring pharmacists and doctors to advise a minor to consult a parent. But the proposal failed to satisfy lawmakers who said parents should know if their child is taking a drug with possible side effects. "If I'm a parent of a minor daughter and she's taking the pill and she gets sick, the pharmacist isn't going to pay those medical bills, I am," said Del. Phillip A. Hamilton (R-Newport News). Even as prospects for a deal dwindled, Baskerville and family planning activists declared victory, saying that in a few short weeks, they succeeded in making millions of Virginia women aware that morning-after pills exist. "A month ago, we didn't even think this would come out of committee," Baskerville said. "Now we've put it on the radar screen." Bennet Greenberg, of Planned Parenthood of Virginia, said, "One of our goals was to educate women in Virginia, and we feel we did that on a large scale." <snip>