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Virginia on reproduction: An abortion rights map

April 29, 2011 - 01:30 PM
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Where do Virginians stand on reproduction? Yesterday, NARAL Pro-Choice Virginia released its legislative scorecard charting local legislators' opinions on everything from fetal personhood to mandatory ultrasounds to abstinence-only education. Reps with an exclusively pro-choice record earned a score of 100 for the group; the most committed anti-abortion voters got zeroed. NARAL is a pro-choice organization, but its ranking is equally instructive for politicos on both sides of the reproductive aisle: Michelle Bachmann touts her NARAL rating of zero as a confirmation of her pro-life bonafides.

Above, I've charted the distribution of opinions on reproduction across the state, with the tiny women icons representing pro-choice legislators, those big red things indicating pro-life reps, and the dainty pink dots standing in for those who fall somewhere in between.

And after the jump: A sample of proposed legislation included in NARAL's calculation:

* A bill requiring the state Board of Health to regulate “all facilities performing five or more first-trimester abortions per month” as they do hospitals.

* A bill mandating that physicians perform an ultrasound before providing an abortion.

* A bill granting "personhood" status to fetuses.

* A bill banning private health insurance plans "operating under new state exchanges established under federal health care reform from covering abortion care except in the cases of rape, incest or when the life of the woman is in danger."

* A bill requiring sex ed programs to "be evidence-based and supported by peerreviewed medical research."

* A bill to restore $890,000 in funding for abstinence-only sex ed programs.

For more: NARAL Pro-Choice Virginia has got the full breakdown of how the state's delegates and senators voted on the bills.

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