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Republican sends Senate members plastic fetus doll
Virginian-Pilot ^ | 2/5/03 | JUSTIN BERGMAN

Posted on 02/05/2003 5:31:44 PM PST by madprof98

RICHMOND -- A Republican lawmaker infuriated Democrats Wednesday by sending members of the Senate pink plastic fetus dolls with a letter asking, ``Would you kill this child?''

Del. Richard Black of Loudoun County said the doll, which he described as a ``little Barbie doll baby'' in its first trimester, was intended to remind senators of the human side of abortion. It was accompanied by a message on official state letterhead in which Black graphically describes what happens to a fetus during an abortion.

``This is the size and shape of an actual first-trimester baby,'' the letter reads. ``Abortionists kill most babies at this stage of development.''

Both the Senate and House are considering several important abortion bills in the closing weeks of the session, with conservative legislators confident many will get through with veto-proof margins. The tide of conservatism in both chambers has so alarmed Democrats that more than a dozen lawmakers attended a news conference Wednesday where they railed against measures they say will set abortion rights in Virginia back to the days before Roe v. Wade.

But Democratic legislators saved their harshest comments for Black's letter, which Senate Minority Leader Richard Saslaw of Fairfax County said was one of the most inappropriate things he has seen in his 23 years in the Senate.

``Quite frankly, the people who saw this were pretty repulsed by it,'' he said.

Added Sen. Leslie Byrne, D-Fairfax County, ``It shocked me and, as a matter of fact, my secretary was frightened. She saw this thing in the envelope and didn't know what it was.''

``It hurts the decorum of the General Assembly,'' she said.

House Speaker William Howell, R-Stafford, also called it a bad idea. He said too much attention is being paid to hot-button issues like abortion this session.

``It does take the focus off the bigger, broader issues that we're doing, and I think that's regrettable,'' Howell said.

Saslaw pointed the blame for the ratcheted-up rhetoric at Republicans. He and other Democrats attributed it to Republicans trying to curry favor with constituents during an election year.

``I've never seen such an avalanche of this,'' he said. ``I think it's only a matter of time, hopefully sooner than later, that the women of Virginia wake up and realize what's happening.''

Black has said he believes this will be the year to pass legislation banning a late-term procedure abortion opponents call ``partial-birth abortion'' and requiring minors seeking an abortion to receive permission from a parent. But despite his strong lobbying efforts on these issues, Black maintains the fetus dolls were in good taste.

``We have these babies all around our office,'' he said. ``We're always handing them out to people.''

His message to legislators was clear: ``I want each one of them to know what they're talking about when we talk about killing children. ... It's my belief that abortion is going to end in America within 10 years.''


TOPICS: Culture/Society; US: Virginia
KEYWORDS: abortion; dickblack; loudoun; vageneralassembly
I wish this guy was my legislator. We need to get our Dems here in Georgia to be "shocked" and "offended" about the babies they want to see killed.
1 posted on 02/05/2003 5:31:45 PM PST by madprof98
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To: madprof98
Why on earth were they shocked? I thought they were proud of killing babies.
2 posted on 02/05/2003 5:33:49 PM PST by Cicero
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To: Ligeia
ping
3 posted on 02/05/2003 5:34:48 PM PST by Maedhros (yO! nOiD)
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To: madprof98
``It does take the focus off the bigger, broader issues that we're doing, and I think that's regrettable,'' Howell said.

Yeah, right pal. Bigger broader issues such as power and politics? Pffffft!

4 posted on 02/05/2003 5:35:13 PM PST by Humidston (Do not remove this tag under penalty of law)
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To: madprof98
Well, it's one thing to vote on it, it's another thing to see reality.


5 posted on 02/05/2003 5:37:14 PM PST by Indy Pendance
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To: madprof98
``It does take the focus off the bigger, broader issues

Wrong! It puts the focus exaclty where it should be. That is why it made the Dems so uncomfortable.

6 posted on 02/05/2003 5:39:04 PM PST by mrfixit514
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To: Humidston
I expect he said that to keep the RINOs happy. They love abortion too.
7 posted on 02/05/2003 5:40:45 PM PST by madprof98
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To: madprof98
While I agree with what Black has to say, but I think the fetus doll was slightly in bad taste.
8 posted on 02/05/2003 5:44:24 PM PST by Rackle (The Ultimate Answer to the Ultimate Question is, of course, 42.)
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To: madprof98
``It does take the focus off the bigger, broader issues that we're doing, and I think that's regrettable,'' Howell said.

Right, there are lots more important issues to apparatchik types than baby killing.

9 posted on 02/05/2003 5:44:29 PM PST by Rome2000
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To: madprof98
"Sen. Leslie Byrne, D-Fairfax County, ``It shocked me and, as a matter of fact, my secretary was frightened. She saw this thing in the envelope and didn't know what it was."

Hahahaha, and how old is this secretary? That thing missy is the image of a baby. It's the image of the person disposed of, by an industry catering to those that don't want to be bothered by their own baby.

"''It hurts the decorum of the General Assembly, Sen. Leslie Byrne, D-Fairfax County said''."

That's right, avoid addressing the real problem of "decorum".

"House Speaker William Howell, R-Stafford, also called it a bad idea. He said too much attention is being paid to hot-button issues like abortion this session. ``It does take the focus off the bigger, broader issues that we're doing, and I think that's regrettable,'' Howell said.

Got pork?

10 posted on 02/05/2003 5:50:00 PM PST by spunkets
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To: Rome2000
``Quite frankly, the people who saw this were pretty repulsed by it,''

Maybe they should look at the real thing.
11 posted on 02/05/2003 5:50:24 PM PST by outpost44
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To: madprof98
my secretary was frightened. She saw this thing in the envelope and didn't know what it was

Bahaha! How telling!

12 posted on 02/05/2003 5:50:57 PM PST by my_pointy_head_is_sharp
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To: madprof98
A few years ago Rick Santorum had one of those dolls when he was debating Barbara Boxer about abortion....I thought they were going to have to bring in those re-fibralator paddles for Babs....she almost had the big one.....actually, it was quite delightful to see her so flabbergasted....
13 posted on 02/05/2003 5:51:31 PM PST by little-e
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To: madprof98
Don't be shocked, Dems, just kill it. Otherwise, it will take a lot of money you could spend on yourself...
14 posted on 02/05/2003 5:53:13 PM PST by ez ("If this is not evil, then evil has no meaning." - GWB)
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To: Rackle
While I agree with what Black has to say, but I think the fetus doll was slightly in bad taste.

Why should it bother anyone? How many times have we heard that "It's only tissue." ??

15 posted on 02/05/2003 5:54:46 PM PST by arasina
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To: All
If this is gross to the Dems, than reality is what??

It's a disposable doll representing a child at a different age of it's life, at an age when it's mother exhibits the ultimate degree of protection and nourishment of a child at this most delicate stage.

Abortionists just ignore reality under the guise of "ownership" by the mother.

16 posted on 02/05/2003 6:22:36 PM PST by Sacajaweau
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To: Rackle
Not really as bad taste as a REAL dead baby. (But of course, they're too busy harvesting body parts to spare a few....)

17 posted on 02/05/2003 6:32:43 PM PST by Humidston (Do not remove this tag under penalty of law)
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To: Sacajaweau
Darkness hates the Light.
18 posted on 02/05/2003 6:40:17 PM PST by CalvaryJohn
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To: CalvaryJohn
We should have a poll on FR, about abortion.
19 posted on 02/05/2003 6:55:38 PM PST by MonroeDNA (leve the monkeys alone)
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To: Maedhros
Thanks for the ping. It's been a good year so far in the General Assembly on a whole host of issues, especially life. It's crossover time, so we're halfway there.
20 posted on 02/05/2003 7:05:51 PM PST by Ligeia
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