House Democrats are forcing a floor vote for sometime next week on legislation that would limit access to abortion in order to impel Republicans to go on the record on one of the most divisive political issues facing the country in a presidential election year.
Less than a day after a Democratic-led House panel on Wednesday rejected a measure by Del. Tim Griffin, R-Bedford County, that would have banned all abortions in Virginia outright with no exceptions for rape and incest, the House Rules Committee on Thursday morning against all expectations advanced another Griffin proposal, which would prohibit the Virginia Board of Health to use state general funds to pay for abortions for women.
In what appears to be a deliberate political maneuver, the 12 Democrats on the committee voted to send House Bill 404 to the floor without recommendation, where lawmakers could take up the measure for a first of three votes as soon as Friday. The panel’s four Republican members who were present at the hearing voted against the move.