Posted on 01/07/2005 5:06:58 PM PST by SilentServiceCPO
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:
1. That § 32.1-264 of the Code of Virginia is amended and reenacted as follows:... When a fetal death occurs without medical attendance, it shall be the woman's responsibility to report the death to the law-enforcement agency in the jurisdiction of which the delivery occurs within 12 hours after the delivery. A violation of this section shall be punishable as a Class 1 misdemeanor.
(Excerpt) Read more at leg1.state.va.us ...
Yeah! Michigan doesn't have any stupid laws.
stupid not only because of the privacy issue...
talk to any woman who is a mother and you'll find that at least 50% seem to have miscarried at least once...
you can't even see a doctor until after the third month...unless you are a high risk, etc.
What if you don't know about it? I had a grandma who passed away, after the autopsy they found a calcified fetus in her uterus. Gross, but it was never born. Don't know how long it was there?
Does it include miscarriages of justice?
Nahhh...stupid law.
Think about this... Who do you report this to? Does a cop show up while you are still in terrible pain, cramping and bleeding, to take "just the facts". And think of the 21 year old young wife, her Sailor or Soldier husband out to sea or standing duty, having to face a gruff, impersonal police officer in the middle of the night all alone. If she waits 12 hours until her husband comes home, then she is a criminal.
In the first place, most miscarriages are in the first week or two of gestation and the woman often doesn't know that she is pregnant or that she miscarried.
In the second place, it's none of their damned business.
SO9
'I am stunned by this from the guy that represents me in the State Assembly and he will get an email box-full. If any other Virginians agree, you can email Rep Cosgrove at Del_Cosgrove@house.state.va.us'
Wonder what the women who work in his office had to say as they were 'typing up' his little Bill?
"Hey Del!! Are you nuts???"
The people trying to get this bill passed are cut from the same cloth as the rabid-drug warriors, and those who want to create a federal censorship commision. These authoritarians are the most damaging to the conservative movement.
I think Rep. Del has been taking stupid pills. This is beyond ridiculous. Hope you folks in Virginia will let him hear about it.
Exactly, Very well said. I actually first saw this following a link from a link from a link... and saw a comment about it posted on a "less than conservative" site with some disparaging commentary about Republicans. While I can't agree with 99.9% of what else I saw there, this really struck a chord with me, both because of the privacy issue and because it reflects so poorly upon what I know and believe in my heart to be true conservatism. If we don't hold the line against some of the more radical elements ourselves, we risk getting lumped in with them and all painted as extremists.
The bill as posted on the VA State web site doesn't list any co-sponsors, but it got through commitee and is going to the House floor on Wednesday.
I believe it is meant to apply only to deaths after the twentieth week.
In the legislation that allowed for birth certificates for children born dead twenty weeks was some kind of cutoff from the Board of Health for fetal deaths.
I admit the law doesn't seem clear about that though.
Phone his office. Sometimes the staff just ignores e-mails.
It's also effective to write a letter. This is nuts. How did it ever get out of committee?
§ 32.1-264. Reports of fetal deaths; medical certification; investigation by medical examiner; confidentiality of information concerning abortions.
Why don't you send a letter of apology to pro lifers and Cosgrove and stop frequenting "kill'em on the way out" websites.
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