Albo Felonizes Miscarriages

Back in 1994, Del. Dave Albo got sued by the phone company and he struck back with a counterclaim complaining about charges on his bill. About six years later, he struck back with some comments in Committee which were reported in the Richmond Times.

Del. David B. Albo, R-Fairfax, said phone bills, particularly various taxes tacked onto bills, trail only abortion and gun control as a top issue for his constituents.' Richmond Times-Dispatch 9.7.2000.

So back in 2000, his constituents top 3 issues were not transportation, health care, or not even Albo's pet causes - gangs or illegal immigration. Yes, the BIG THREE - abortion, guns and the all-important PHONE TAXES. Well, one of them is back this year and this time with a vengeance.

Delegate Albo is in this band Planet Albo and he has a basist, Del. John Cosgrove, who seems to have a thing about miscarriages. Back in 2004, Del. Cosgrove introduced a bill making it a misdemeanor to fail to report a miscarriage to the police within twelve hours. This bill was withdrawn before the session started due to a massive outpouring of shock from the blogosphere.

So what do they do this year? Well, the House of Delegates makes it a felony for a pregnant woman to take a pill which causes a miscarriage.

Summary
Producing abortion or miscarriage, etc.: Penalty. Provides that any person, including the pregnant female, who administers to or causes to be taken by a pregnant female any drug or other thing or uses means with intent to destroy her unborn child or to produce abortion or miscarriage and thereby destroys such child or produces such abortion or miscarriage is guilty of a Class 4 Felony. The bill excepts medically approved contraceptives as a means of producing abortion or miscarriage. Current law currently does not with specificity include the pregnant female as a possible perpetrator. Summary of HB 1126.

And Delegate Dave Albo votes to pass this bill not just once, not just twice, but three times. Yes, a bill to make a woman a felon and what's a Class 4 Felon?

A term of imprisonment of not less than two years nor more than 10 years and, subject to subdivision (g), a fine of not more than $100,000. Code of Virginia, Section 18.2-10.

Yes. 2 to 10 years. Thank you Delegate Albo.

Did Delegate Albo end with that? No. This year, Delegate Kris Amundson introduced HB 1071 to add the FDA's birth control definition to the Code of Virginia so that birth control would be defined separately from contraception so that methods such as RU 486 were not automatically characterized as abortion where it can be banned from college campuses as it was from JMU in 2003 after pressure from Del. Bob Marshall.

This concept is something called prevention - an attempt to avoid unwanted pregnancies and thus unnecessary abortions. This bill was referred to Delegate Albo's Courts of Justice Committee where it was summarily killed without a recorded vote.

One of his constituents pointed that out and recounted her experience with Delegate Albo in yesterday's Burke Connection:

To the Editor:

I am extremely disappointed in the recent decision of the Courts of Justice Committee chaired by Del. Dave Albo (R-42) and the Education Committee chaired by Del. Bob Tata (R-85). Their decisions obstruct the democratic process by not allowing a hearing or vote on several proactive measures in their respective committees. “Prevention First” has been ignored. HB 1071, the Birth Control Protection Act, was a simple bill that would define birth control in the Code of Virginia as "contraceptive methods that are approved by the U.S. Food and Drug "Administration."

HB 283 and HB 1403 were straight-forward bills that would have ensured communication with parents about what is being taught in Family Life Education programs and added contraception to the code section on Family Life Education.

After a recent trip to Richmond, Del. Albo asked me why these bills were necessary. Actually, if there wasn't a constant barrage of bills trying to make contraception the equivalent of abortion, or the need to keep parents informed that when Family Life Education programs are abstinence-only programs, or not factual information — well then none of these bills would be necessary. Unfortunately, this is not the "climate" in Richmond and it is hurting our children.

These are extremely unfortunate decisions on all of our legislators, and the chairmen hold a great deal of power in these committees. They have neglected our children and instead of aiming to prevent sexually transmitted diseases and unwanted teen pregnancies, have acted naively. I am very disappointed in their actions. I understand the Virginia General Assembly hears thousands of bills during the 60-day session; however, denying these bills a proper hearing in unconscionable.

Joanie Hunn
Fairfax Station

Given that Delegate Albo is back to focusing on the South County's big priorities - abortion and guns - look for some more legislation on phone taxes coming soon.