RICHMOND -- Advocates of abortion rights won two victories last week before a Senate panel.

The Senate Committee on Education and Health voted 10-4 in favor of a bill that defines contraception. Supporters say the measure would prevent contraceptive measures such as "morning-after" bills from being treated as a form of abortion.

Moreover, on a 9-6 vote, the committee defeated a bill that would impose strict standards on clinics that perform 25 or more abortions a year. Most clinics said the new rules would force them to shut down.

Sen. Mary Margaret Whipple, D-Arlington, introduced the legislation that defines contraception. It clearly states that contraception means preventing the union of a sperm and egg or preventing implantation a fertilized egg in uterus.

"Then it says that those methods do not constitute abortion," Whipple said.

Opponents of the bill argue that some contraceptive methods -- such as the intrauterine device and birth control pills – are "abortifacients" that induce abortion. For instance, the House Courts of Justice Committee is considering two bills to ban emergency contraception pills from the state's colleges and universities on grounds that the pills constitute abortion.

Dr. Ellen Brock, director of general obstetrics and gynecology at Virginia Commonwealth University's Medical Center, said she saw no reason for this bill last year but has since changed her mind.

"There have been two disturbing trends in Virginia in the last couple of years, most specifically in the last year," she said. They include "attempts to limit access to emergency contraception" and "attempts to equate contraception and abortion."

Whipple's bill will help counter those trends, Brock said.

Sen. Ken Cuccinelli, R-Centreville, also has legislation that involves defining a term. He wants the definition of a hospital to include any clinic or other facility performing 25 or more abortions per year. As hospitals, such facilities would have to meet higher standards, including having:

* Emergency power supplies

* 3-foot-wide doorways for the passage of gurneys

* Sinks in each operating room

The House of Delegates already has passed similar legislation.

"What we're trying to do is raise the level of care," Cuccinelli said. He cited recent instances in which women undergoing abortions had to be taken to hospital emergency rooms.

"You can imagine having to call 911 from a doctor's office to save your own patient," he said.

Cuccinelli acknowledged his "pro-life" position on abortion. But he said his bill was "genuinely directed to making sure we're taking care of the women going into these facilities."

Katherine Waddell, who chairs the Republican Pro-Choice Coalition of Virginia, disputed that.

"It's about making abortions unavailable; it's not about safety," she said. "This is about legislators forcing their own religious beliefs on all Virginians."

To the amazement of one senator, a representative of the attorney general's office addressed the committee, supporting passage of the bill.

"So the attorney general is on record as supporting a bill that will vastly curtail the ability of women to get abortions in Virginia?" asked Sen. Richard L. Saslaw, D-Springfield.

"You can interpret it any way you want to," said David Johnson, deputy attorney general. "The attorney general supports the regulation of abortion clinics in the same manner as hospitals."

David Nova, president of Planned Parenthood of the Blue Ridge, said his clinic meets the requirements set forth in Cuccinelli's bill. But he said such unnecessary restrictions would force most other facilities to close.

"This is overregulation run amok," Nova said.

The two sides had vastly different estimates on the cost for a clinic to meet hospital standards.

Cuccinelli "guesstimated" $2,000 while opponents of his bill put the figure at $2 million to $3 million.

Here is how the Senate Committee on Education and Health voted on the motion to "pass by indefinitely" (or kill) Cuccinelli's bill:

YEAS (to kill the bill) -- Potts, Saslaw, Lambert, Houck, Lucas, Howell, Quayle, Edwards, Whipple -- 9.

NAYS (not to kill the bill) -- Martin, Newman, Bolling, Ruff, Mims, Blevins -- 6.

Here is how the Senate Committee on Education and Health voted on the motion to approve Whipple's bill:

YEAS -- Potts, Saslaw, Lambert, Houck, Lucas, Howell, Quayle, Edwards, Whipple, Blevins -- 10.

NAYS -- Martin, Bolling, Ruff, Mims -- 4.