Virginia House Delays Abortion Bill After Protest

Del. Robert Marshall holds a paper as he talks about his Personhood bill as Del. David Ramadan listens during the House session at the Capitol in Richmond, Va., Tuesday, Feb. 14, 2012. (AP Photo/Steve Helber)

The Virginia House of Delegates delayed a hotly contested anti-abortion bill today after hundreds of women protested silently outside, the Richmond Times-Dispatch reports. On the verge of passing, the bill would mandate an ultrasound for every woman planning an abortion and give her the choice of viewing the fetus. But an ultrasound so early in pregnancy would be trans-vaginal, forcing women to “submit to involuntary vaginal penetration," said Del. L. Kaye Kory in a scathing floor speech.

A GOP rep denied that the vote delay had anything to do with protesters, and a professor accused "pro-regulation" liberals of hypocrisy in opposing the bill. On the liberal side, Dana Loesch argued in Slate that the law effectively denies women who aren't virgins the right to control what penetrates their vagina. On the comic side, Amy Poehler ripped the issue during "Really?!" on SNL this weekend. The Virginia House also delayed a bill today that would let private adoption agencies deny placement to certain parents—which opponents say is targeted at same-sex couples.