Governor Backs Down; Your Voice Is Being Heard!

'Chicken Bob' McDonnell backs down.

The Huffington Post is reporting that Gov. Bob McDonnell of Virginia will not sign the ultrasound legislation that has brought the Commonwealth such wide-spread ridicule nationally and wants another bill to take its place, one that is less intrusive.

Looks like your voices have been heard by an ambitious politician (redundancy) who wants very much to be vice president (fat chance). Here's some of the HuffPost's report:

Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell (R) revoked his support for a GOP-sponsored bill that would require women to undergo a physically invasive transvaginal ultrasound procedure before having an abortion on Wednesday, just minutes before the House of Delegates is expected to debate and vote on the bill.

"Mandating an invasive procedure in order to give informed consent is not a proper role for the state," McDonnell said in a statement. "No person should be directed to undergo an invasive procedure by the state, without their consent, as a precondition to another medical procedure.

"For this reason ... I am requesting that the General Assembly amend this bill to explicitly state that no woman in Virginia will have to undergo a transvaginal ultrasound involuntarily. I am asking the General Assembly to state in this legislation that only a transabdominal, or external, ultrasound will be required to satisfy the requirements to determine gestational age. Should a doctor determine that another form of ultrasound may be necessary to provide the necessary images and information that will be an issue for the doctor and the patient. The government will have no role in that medical decision," he said.

Members of the state legislature speculated Wednesday morning that Republicans were looking for a way to rewrite the bill to avoid having to fully back down from it, and Del. Jennifer McClellan (D) tweeted from the House floor around 2:30 pm that "a substitute to the ultrasound bill is being circulated."

"A lot of rumors are floating around this building that the Republicans are trying desperately to find some way out of this Pandora's box," said a top legislative staffer who works with Virginia's Democrats. "I think the sponsors didn't realize when this law passed in North Dakota that this was an intrusive ultrasound. But it would look terrible with their base if they backed down now and didn't pass it."