Hundreds of women lock arms and demonstrate outside the Virginia State Capitol.
Hundreds of women in Virginia locked arms and stood silently outside the State Capitol to protest a wave of anti-abortion legislation in the 2012 General Assembly, the Associated Press reported.
Capitol and state police officers estimated the crowd to be more than 1,000 people — mostly women, and some men.
More from GlobalPost: Virginia Sen. battles abortion bill with rectal exams
The group was protesting bills that would cut off state aid to poor women seeking abortions, define embryos as humans and criminalize their destruction, and require women to have a "transvaginal" ultrasound before an abortion.
Delegates postponed a final vote Monday in the House on the ultrasound bill as well as two other contentious bills, the Washington Post reported.
A new poll out from the Christopher Newport University and the Richmond Times-Dispatch shows about 55 percent of Virginians say they don't like the measure.
Del. Kaye Kory of Fairfax, Virginia took to the House floor saying the bill that would force women to “submit to involuntary vaginal penetration.”
“This body is mounting an assault on the freedom and liberty of women in the commonwealth of Virginia,” Kory said.
Outside, Richmond, Virginia resident Molly Vick wore a shirt that read, "Say no to state mandated rape."
Republican Gov. Bob McDonnell has publicly expressed support for the ultrasound bill but on Monday an aide said he would review all measures before deciding whether to sign them.
http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/americas/united-states/120220/women-virginia-protest-anti-abortion-legislation
Print
