RADICAL RIGHT — MCDONNELL WANTS TO WITHHOLD STATE MONEY FOR ABORTION WHEN MOTHER’S HEALTH IS AT RISK: Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell (R) has proposed an amendment to the state budget that would withhold “state money for abortions, including cases in which the health of the mother is at risk or the child might be born with a deformity. Under the proposal, money could be spent on abortions in cases of rape, incest or when the life of the mother is at risk” — thus meeting the bare minimum requirements of the federal Hyde Amendment. State lawmakers will return for a one-day session next Wednesday to either “override the amendments or write them into law.” McDonnell’s amendment would tighten the already strict limits on state abortion funding in Virginia. Currently, public funding is prohibited unless 1) the woman’s health or life would be substantially endangered, 2) the pregnancy is a result of rape or incest that has been reported to a law-enforcement or public-health agency, or 3) a physician certifies that the fetus will be born with a gross and totally incapacitating physical deformity or mental deficiency. A woman may not obtain an abortion until at least 24 hours after a provider offers a medical explanation of the procedure, the probable gestational age of the fetus and offers to review state-prepared materials about alternatives to abortion. McDonnell’s new funding restrictions are intended to encourage women to go through with their pregnancies, but his other budget proposals would actually make it more difficult for mothers to obtain needed government assistance. For instance, McDonnell “proposed capping state spending on comprehensive services for at-risk and troubled children. The change would result in a $9.9 million cut to funding for programs that were already reduced by $86 million over two years.”