No contracts to providers “that perform abortion”
By Dave Andrusko
Virginia Delegate Ben Cline
The Virginia Senate today joined the Virginia House in passing a bill that would end federal Title X funding for abortion providers and redirect it to community health clinics that offer more comprehensive care and do not perform abortions.
The 20-19 vote on HB 2264 was along party lines, with all Republicans in favor, all Democrats in opposition. Earlier this week the bill passed the Virginia House of Representatives by an overwhelming vote of 60-33. The bill now goes to Gov. Terry McAuliffe.
HB 2264 “would prohibit the Virginia Department of Health from granting funds or entering into contracts with certain health care providers that perform abortion.”
“More specifically, the bill would cut off Title X funding for Planned Parenthood,” according to SaraRose Martin of Capital News Service.
“This is the right thing to do so that women get the care they are looking for when they are pregnant,” Olivia Gans Turner, president of the Virginia Society for Human Life (VSHL), told NRL News Today. “State funds should not be used to support groups in the business of abortion. ”
Turner added, “VSHL is hopeful that the Governor will accept this measure which will provide authentic health care, especially prenatal care, to the women of the Commonwealth.”
As NRL News Today previously reported, Sponsor Del. Ben Cline said HB 2264 “ensures that hospitals, federally qualified health clinics and rural health clinics are funded prior to abortion centers.”
According to Martin, Del. Cline
said the bill would give priority to more than 140 federally qualified and rural health clinics in Virginia. Cline said the bill would make sure that money is sent to “health clinics that meet the needs of those populations they serve in the most comprehensive manner possible,” instead of to clinics that provide abortions.