The bill requires that facilities that perform more than five first trimester abortions per month be subject to the same regulations as hospitals, which will hopefully help keep down the kind of abuses that were documented here by Live Action (and, much more horrifyingly, the atrocities committed in Pennsylvania by Kermit Gosnell).  This rather commonsense consistency in regulating abortions would be normally out of reach of the pro-life movement, as the Virginia Senate is 22/18 Democratic/Republican: however, two Democrats switched their votes after a parliamentary procedure forced them to take a stand on the bill.  This made the vote 20/20, thus allowing Lt. Governor Bill Bolling to break the tie.

Because elections matter.

People may also remember that this has been building up since August of 2010, when Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli ruled that abortion facilities could be regulated as if they were hospitals – which ruling helped set up this bill.

Because elections matter.

The bill now goes to Governor Bob McDonnell, who will sign it.

Because elections matter.

Moe Lane (crosspost)