2007 general assembly

General Assembly Ends, VCC Says ‘Still More Work to Do’

By Henrietta Gomes
HERALD Staff Writer
(From the Issue of 3/8/07)

As the 2007 session of the Virginia General Assembly came to a close, the Virginia Catholic Conference (VCC) faced defeat in some areas, but also felt that the voice of the Catholic community was taken into consideration “to a much larger extent then in years past,” said Jeff Caruso, executive director. “We gained significant advancements in some areas,” he said attributing much of the success to the e-mail network of constituents and other grass roots organizations.
The VCC faced the most significant defeat in matters regarding the death penalty. The assembly approved conference opposed measures, which sought to expand circumstances for capital punishment. “The state of Virginia has done more executions since 1976 than any other state beside Texas, and despite that fact the General Assembly still found fit to expand it,” said Caruso. Currently, five bills sit on Gov. Tim Kaine’s desk that would add accomplices to crimes, those who murder a judge and those who murder a subpoenaed crime witness to the list of those who could receive the death penalty. Noting that in recent days the governor has expressed reservations about expanding reasons for capital punishment, Caruso is encouraged and remains hopeful that the governor may veto the bills. “I certainly agree that the last thing Virginia needs is to look for even more ways to issue death sentences, especially given the high frequency with which executions already occur in our commonwealth."
Another letdown for the conference included abortion-related legislation. Although the House of Delegates approved a budget amendment to prevent state funding of Medicaid abortions, it met its defeat in the Senate. Three other abortion related bills supported by the conference passed in the House, but were rejected by the Senate Committee on Education and Health. One measure would have made it a crime to use force to coerce a pregnant woman to have an abortion against her will. Calling the bills “commonsense measures,” Caruso expressed disappointment that they were defeated.
The other bills would have required abortion clinics to be licensed by the state and subject to regulations that apply to other ambulatory surgery centers; the third legislation would have changed the state’s “informed consent” law to require that all women considering an abortion be given the opportunity to view and ultrasound image of her unborn child.
In matters of stem-cell research, the conference lobbied aggressively for budget amendments to prohibit the research by destroying human embryos or fetuses. The measure was not included in the conference committee report approved by the assembly. However, the VCC lobbied for the governor’s infusion of additional funds for adult stem-cell research that does not involve destruction of human life, which was approved by the assembly.
“Raising the consciousness and awareness of stem-cell research made a big difference in terms of achieving smaller goals,” said Caruso. Unfortunately, he said Virginia law does not prohibit the use of taxpayers dollars for stem cell research that destroys life. “There’s still a lot of work to do, and we’re going to continue pressing.”
On a positive note, the conference, with the help of grassroots organizations and other advocates, successfully lobbied for a measure that would permit local school boards to provide transportation to nonpublic school students. The measure was approved by both the House and the Senate after the Senate Committee on Education and Health had rejected similar legislation in 2005 and 2006. Calling it a “landmark decision on the part of the General Assembly,” Caruso noted that in approving the legislation, the assembly acknowledged the service of nonpublic schools to the community.
Commending the successful efforts, Caruso said he anticipates the furthering of their efforts as the faithful continue to get involved. With the increase of participation, he said, “we’ll see even more successes.”
To send a message to the governor regarding the death penalty legislation, go to www.vacatholic.org.

Henrietta Gomes can be reached at hgomes@catholicherald.com.