Virginia Considers Law Banning Insemination of Unmarried Women

Does anyone remember the Murphy Brown uproar, when Dan Quayle got all hot and bothered over Murphy Brown becoming a single mother by choice (apparently forgetting that she was a fictional character on a sitcom, and not a real woman giving birth to a real baby)? Well, just in case you thought those days were over.... Hot off the presses, here's this week's winner of the "proposed repressive legislation" award: Va. bill would halt lesbian insemination Anti-gay delegate files pre-session bill By LAURA DOUGLAS-BROWN Jan 7, 4:46 AM A bill in the Virginia state legislature would prevent unmarried women from using assisted reproductive technology, including lesbians who frequently use donor insemination to have children. Robert Marshall, a Republican state lawmaker in Virginia, wants to stop doctors from helping unmarried women have babies. Del. Robert Marshall (R-Manassas), who has also sponsored measures to ban same-sex marriage and strictly limit abortions, pre-filed HB 187 on Jan. 2 for the 2006 state legislative session, which begins Jan. 11. The measure would forbid medical professionals from providing to unmarried women “certain intervening medical technology” that “completely or partially replaces sexual intercourse as the means of conception.” The bill provides a list of medical procedures, including “artificial insemination by donor” and invitro fertilization. ....