''Morning-after'' decision may impede governorship quest
By WARREN FISKE AND PHILIP WALZER, The Virginian-Pilot
© May 14, 2003
RICHMOND -- Attorney General Jerry W. Kilgore has given most state colleges a go-ahead to continue dispensing emergency contraception pills in an action that could complicate his drive toward Republican gubernatorial nomination in 2005.
In a written opinion issued to college presidents late last week, Kilgore said that taking so-called ``morning-after pills'' should not be characterized as a form of abortion -- a position at odds with many socially conservative leaders in his party.
Kilgore's opinion appeared to reject abortion opponents' longstanding argument that pregnancy occurs at the moment of conception. The attorney general instead concluded that pregnancy legally takes place when a fertilized egg is implanted in the uterus wall.
The distinction is important because emergency contraception, typically taken up to 72 hours after unprotected sexual intercourse, prevents pregnancy from occurring in one of three ways: by inhibiting ovulation or the release of an egg; by stopping egg and sperm from meeting; or by preventing the fertilized egg from implanting.
Anti-abortion groups maintain that stopping the implantation of an egg is an early abortion. Del. Robert G. Marshall, R-Prince William, wrote several university presidents questioning the dispensing of the pills by campus clinics. Marshall warned that college physicians may be violating state ``informed-consent laws,'' which require women, before terminating pregnancies, to receive detailed information about adoption and the risks of abortion.
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TalkNet: Did Kilgore make the right decision?
Background Coverage:
Delegate earns fans, foes - even in own party
Shortly after getting Marshall's letter, the board of visitors at James Madison University voted to ban campus doctors from prescribing the medicine -- essentially a heavy dose of birth control pills. Students have petitioned the board to reconsider its decision.
Other colleges delayed any action until Kilgore weighed in. Several universities -- including Old Dominion University, the University of Virginia and the College of William and Mary -- announced Tuesday that they would continue distributing emergency contraception.
Kilgore said state laws do not bar any campus clinic with a pharmacy permit from dispensing emergency contraception. Instead, he said, the decision on whether to allow such prescriptions should be left to each university's board.
Kilgore's opinion comes at the precise moment he is seeking to ward off any competition for the GOP gubernatorial nomination.
He is expected to raise $500,000 for his campaign today by hosting a Richmond luncheon featuring former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani.
``This could be a very dangerous position for him,'' Marshall said. ``He's completely undone our informed-consent law. He could be in a lot of trouble with his base.''
The opinion also was criticized by The Family Foundation, an influential conservative lobby based in Richmond.
``This is a severe blow to everything we've been working on,'' said Victoria Cobb, a spokeswoman for the group. ``We believe it is critical that women know these pills are not only contraceptive in nature, but also abortive.''
Marshall and Cobb said Kilgore erred in siding with a definition that pregnancy occurs when a fertilized egg is implanted. They said many medical dictionaries say it begins at conception.
Abortion-rights advocates had mixed feelings about Kilgore's opinion. Some were pleased by its overall gist. Others voiced concern about a section in which Kilgore defined the licensing requirements necessary for a clinic to prescribe the drug. They worried that some university health centers would not qualify.
``He found a middle ground,'' said Bennet Greenberg, a lobbyist for Planned Parenthood Advocates of Virginia.
Greenberg said he still regards Kilgore as an opponent, noting that the attorney general has supported a number of measures over the past two years to restrict access to abortions. ``I have seen nothing to suggest that he is in any way friendly to abortion rights,'' Greenberg said.
Locally, Christopher Newport and Norfolk State universities do not provide either the pill or prescriptions for it.
``I don't think we have a need for that here,'' NSU spokeswoman Sharon R. Hoggard said. ``There has never been a request for something like that, to my knowledge.''
ODU provides the pills to students after advising them that ``this is not the normal contraceptive measure,'' Vice President Dana D. Burnett said. ``This is an emergency contraceptive measure.''
Burnett said Old Dominion does not intend to stop giving them out.
``It wouldn't be the method we would advocate initially,'' Burnett said. But sometimes the morning-after pill is appropriate if ``the No. 1 choice either didn't work or maybe it wasn't their choice to engage in sex at all but it was forced upon them.'' Perhaps a student found herself in this situation and it was unplanned, Burnett added.
William and Mary does not plan changes, either, spokesman William T. Walker Jr. said. The college has administered the pill for six years, he said, but only on two conditions: if students had unprotected sex and if the pill was taken within 72 hours of sex.
Reach Warren Fiske at
fiske@richmond.infi.net or (804) 697-1565.
http://home.hamptonroads.com/stories/story.cfm?story=54077&ran=173809 =====
Giuliani stumps for Kilgore at campaign fund raiser
By BOB LEWIS, Associated Press
© May 14, 2003
Last updated 5:10 PM May. 14
RICHMOND -- Former New York City mayor Rudolph Giuliani urged a Republican crowd Wednesday to ensure the election of Jerry Kilgore as governor, even though the election is still more than two years away.
About 750 Republican activists paid a total of more than $500,000 to the Republican attorney general's 2005 campaign for governor.
Giuliani, himself a former prosecutor as Kilgore was, said the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on New York taught him that no election can be taken for granted.
``I realized the importance of the November 2000 election about an hour after the attacks as I looked at the destruction,'' Giuliani said. He said he called the White House, seeking air support from fighter jets, and got it immediately. He then turned to New York's police chief, ``and I told him 'Thank God George Bush is the President of the United States.'''
The event brought together the Republican Party's feuding conservatives and moderates, who paid from $100 to $25,000 per plate. One contributor voluntarily paid $50,000 to attend the event. In 2001, the rift between the factions was an important factor in the election of Democratic Governor Mark R. Warner, with thousands of disaffected Republicans throwing their support behind Warner.
Del. Robert F. McDonnell, R-Virginia Beach, said the event essentially ensured the Republican nomination for Kilgore.
``The party is united, there won't be a nomination fight and this gives Kilgore about a 3-to-1 fundraising advantage. It's a great sign,'' said McDonnell, who is running for attorney general in 2005.
http://home.hamptonroads.com/stories/story.cfm?story=54115&ran=219504As a one-time Madison student (no, I did not end up getting my degree there, I am proud to say) I don't see what all the brouhaha is. It is plainly stated in several places that if chicks want the morning-after-pill, they are free to go get it from area pharmacies. Nobody's little reproductive rights are being trampled on. Geez, talk about mountaining the proverbial molehill...