"Ambushed!

That's how Sen. Ken Cuccinelli, R-Fairfax, described what happened to a bill of his at a committee hearing yesterday.

About 200 abortions-rights advocates who opposed Cuccinelli's bill to subject abortion clinics to stricter regulations crowded into the General Assembly Building meeting room for the hearing.

Cuccinelli said he didn't think it was a coincidence that his bill was being heard on the same day abortion-rights advocates had scheduled their annual mass lobbying event, with an outdoor rally and dozens of abortion-rights supporters meeting individually with legislators.

After listening to about an hour of testimony, the Senate Education and Health Committee voted 9-6 to defeat the bill.

"Of course it was an ambush," Cuccinelli said after the meeting. He said he learned about a week ago that the ralliers would be there.

"Despite the fact it was an ambush, I do feel like I had a fair hearing," he said. "I got to air my case."

Cuccinelli, who last year offered similar legislation only to see it fail, said he trimmed his original bill drastically, going from 40 pages covering 92 regulatory standards to five pages covering 38 standards.

"Everything in here is very directly related to health and safety concerns," he said, reading off some of the standards.

Currently, abortion clinics are regulated like doctors' offices. Inspections are complaint-driven.

Cuccinelli and some other abortion opponents would like the clinics regulated as outpatient surgery centers and subject to routine state inspections.

David Nova, president of Planned Parenthood of the Blue Ridge Inc., said the organization built and equipped two clinics, at a cost of about $2 million each, that would meet the outpatient surgery center standards, but they still face challenges from abortion opponents." (Tammie Smith, Richmond Times-Dispatch, February 4, 2005)

Contact Tammie Smith at (804) 649-6572 or tlsmith@timesdispatch.com