While Creigh has had a virtually unblemished pro-choice voting record
the past two years, that was not always the case.
Creigh voted
for the so-called "Partial Birth Abortion" bill, HB 1154,
in 1998 [patron Roger McClure] and he voted for the parental notification
bill, HB
2899, in 1997 [patron Robert G. Marshall].
HB1154 read:
Prohibits partial birth abortions. The bill defines "partial birth
abortion" as an abortion in which the person performing the abortion
deliberately and intentionally delivers a living fetus or a substantial
portion thereof into the vagina for the purpose of performing a procedure
the person knows will kill the fetus, performs the procedure, kills the
fetus and completes the delivery. The bill also provides for review, at
the request of the physician, by a three-member physician committee to be
known as the medical necessity advisory committee, of the doctor's actions,
with the results to be available as evidence at his trial. The offense is
punishable as a Class 1 misdemeanor. This bill is identical to SB 552.
The bill received 87-yea and 10-nay in the House, Democrats Creigh Deeds
and Mitch Van Yahres voting yes.
Subsequently the bill was passed to the Senate, where the vote was 32-yea
and 8-nay, Democrat
Emily Couric voting no.
In June of 2000, the United States Supreme Court struck
down Nebraska's statute against so-called "partial birth abortion".
And in July of 2000, the U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals lifted it's ban
on the procedure.
HB2899 read:
Abortion; minors; notification. Creates procedure requiring 24 hours'
(72 hours by mail) notice to a parent, grandparent, adult sibling, person
standing in loco parentis or duly appointed guardian or custodian of an
unemancipated minor or judicial order prior to performing an abortion upon
the minor. Exceptions are provided for cases of suspected abuse and neglect
and where medically necessary to avert death or serious risk of (i) substantial
impairment of a major bodily function or (ii) substantial physical injury.
Minor in this bill is not delineated and will, therefore, mean individuals
under the age of 18.
The bill received 81-yea and 18-nay votes in the House, Democrats Creigh
Deeds and Mitch Van Yahres voting yes.
Subsequently the bill was passed by indefinately by the Senate Committee
on Education and Health by a vote of 9-yea and 6-nay, Democrat
Emily Couric voting yea.
A yea vote was to bypass the bill indefinately.
In 1999, the United States Supreme Court allowed Virginia's parental
notification law to
remain standing.
Note: Sometimes votes are considered anti-choice by some when
in fact one must consider them more carefully.
For example, it was recorded that Creigh voted for the Targeted Regulation
of Abortion Providers in 1999 on the House floor, but he did so only after
the Watts amendment was adopted (he voted for the amendment, too) to broaden
the bill to cover many other medical procedures.
At that point there were a number of pro-choice delegates who voted for
the bill, since the amendment was intended to keep abortion from being singled
out and to help kill the bill eventually, which is exactly what happened
in the Senate Education and Health Committee. | 
