A bill to ban Virginia's public institutions of higher education from distributing emergency contraceptives to students was stranded in committee Thursday, effectively killing it for the remainder of the session.
The Senate Committee on Health and Education voted 10-4 with one abstention to reject the bill, sponsored by Del. Robert G. Marshall, R-Prince William. The House of Delegates had already passed the bill Feb. 17 by a vote of 52-47.
The bill's defeat marks the end of Marshall's latest attempt to prevent Virginia colleges and universities from distributing emergency contraceptives to students. Last year, after receiving a letter from Marshall, the James Madison University Board of Visitors voted to restrict its health center from distributing the pills, but the Board reversed the vote last month.
Marshall said, however, that by raising awareness his position had gained more support.
"When the parents of Virginia find out what's going on, they're going to take a very different view than the BOV and the state Senate committee," Marshall said. "The people who see this, they'll start to take action."
Marshall said the bill's defeat would not matter in the long run.
"I am very satisfied that I managed to get this very far," he said. Marshall also scorned the committee's decision.
"I guess the committee wanted to be a little paternalistic," Marshall said.
University Politics Prof. Larry J. Sabato said the bill's defeat was never in doubt.
"It was very predictable," Sabato said. "That bill had virtually no chance of passage from day one."
Sabato said the bill's passage through the House and defeat in the Senate was due to the House's more conservative nature.
"Right now, the Senate is by far the more moderate body," Sabato said. "It is checking the House of Delegates in every way, even more than the governor is doing."
The University Democrats, who co-sponsored a letter-writing campaign to members of the Senate Committee on Health and Education with the University's chapters of the National Organization for Women and Planned Parenthood, greeted the decision with approval, as did Christine Peterson, director of gynecology at Student Health.
Peterson said the health center needs to distribute emergency contraceptives due to the time involved for a student to get a prescription filled at an off-Grounds pharmacy.
"The delay might have resulted in increased numbers of pregnancies and abortions," Peterson said. "That's what's not good for students."
Defenders and opponents of emergency contraception disagree strongly on both medical and ethical grounds.
The Food and Drug Administration has said emergency contraceptives are safe and recently approved two pills for over-the-counter distribution. But Marshall said the agency used a more lenient form of testing not used on other drugs and that the drug had not been proven to be safe.
Opponents say the medicines act after fertilization. Peterson said the medicine sometimes had a post-ovulation effect but added that scientists were not sure what that effect was.
Marshall also objected to the involvement of universities.
"I don't think the state has any business doing this," he said.
Peterson argued that Student Health receives no state support.
"Students pay a health fee," Peterson said. "There's no tax money, no state funding at all."
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