Virginia House Delays Abortion Bill After Protest

The Virginia House of Delegates delayed a hotly contested anti-abortion bill today after hundreds of women protested silently outside, the Richmond Times-Dispatch reports. The bill—which was about to pass—would mandate an ultrasound for every woman planning an abortion and give her the choice of viewing the fetus. But an ultrasound so early in pregnancy would be trans-vaginal, forcing women to “submit to involuntary vaginal penetration," said Del. L. Kaye Kory in a scathing floor speech.

Debate off the floor has been just as heated. On Twitter, a professor accused "pro-regulation" liberals of hypocrisy in opposing the bill. On the liberal side, Dana Loesch argued in Slate that the law effectively denies women who aren't virgins the right to control what penetrates their vagina. On the comic side, Amy Poehler ripped the issue during "Really?!" on SNL this weekend. The Virginia House also delayed a bill today that would let private adoption agencies deny placement to certain parents—which opponents say is targeted at same-sex couples. (More Virginia stories.)