VA GOP Bill #1 for 2013? Ban Abortion, Embryonic Stem Cell Research, Certain Contraceptive Methods

If you thought that all the blowback Virginia Republicans received last year over their "transvaginal ultrasound" bill, as well as the rest of their assault on women's health and reproductive freedom, would have made them change course for 2013, well think again. According to the Virginia Legislative Information Service, the #1 bill for 2013 is...you guessed it: "PERSONHOOD", as defined by Del. "Sideshow Bob" Marshall. Rights of unborn children.  Provides that unborn children at every stage of development enjoy all the rights, privileges, and immunities available to other persons, citizens, and residents of the Commonwealth, subject only to the laws and Constitutions of Virginia and the United States, precedents of the United States Supreme Court, and provisions to the contrary in the statutes of the Commonwealth. How extreme is this bill? Put it this way: "Voters in Mississippi, one of the most socially conservative states in the nation, rejected a similar measure in October [2011] because it complicated the legality of stem cell research, in vitro fertilization, abortion in cases of rape, incest or life endangerment, and certain kinds of birth control." That, my friends, is Virginia House Bill #1 for 2013. Should be a fun year, huh?