An abortion rights loss in Texas and a WIN in Virginia

First the good news:

NO ONE was misled three years ago when Virginia’s then-attorney general, Ken Cuccinelli II, a Republican, twisted legal logic to the breaking point by trying to shutter abortion clinics that had operated legally and safely for years. Mr. Cuccinelli, a crusading culture warrior, advanced a rationale as flawed as it was novel: He argued that a 2011 law, applying stringent hospital construction standards to small, outpatient abortion clinics, should apply not only to new structures but also to existing ones — a departure from long-standing practice for health-care facilities in Virginia.

The Democrats, who swept statewide elections in 2013, including Attorney General Mark R. Herring, campaigned on a promise to reverse Mr.?Cuccinelli’s cockeyed “advice.” On Monday, Mr. Herring made good on that promise, clearing the way for new regulations.

In a watertight official opinion, Mr. Herring laid waste to Mr. Cuccinelli’s reasoning and gave the green light for state regulators to restore common-sense rule-making. Assuming the state Board of Health heeds his advice, it is now free to rewrite the regulations to lift the threat of closure from the state’s existing abortion clinics.

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http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/an-abortion-rights-win-in-virginia/2015/05/05/16db5e3e-f29d-11e4-84a6-6d7c67c50db0_story.html

And the bad news:

Texas state senate approves legislation banning insurance coverage for abortion purchased through a health care exchange.

What a world it would be, if it were even a little bit surprising that the Texas Senate just approved a measure to prohibit health insurance companies from covering abortion in all cases except for medical emergencies.

Alas, that is not the world we live in, and thus I have unsurprising news: On Tuesday, the Texas Senate gave its preliminary approval for SB 575, a bill to eliminate insurance coverage for “elective” abortions.

The measure, proposed by Republican State Sen. Larry Taylor, would prevent both private health insurance plans and federal plans offered through the Affordable Care Act marketplace from providing any coverage for abortion save for cases of medical emergency, such as a threat to the pregnant woman’s life or major physical function. SB 575 explicitly excludes psychological and emotional conditions in its medical emergency guidelines, and also prohibits coverage for “a potential future medical condition that may result from a voluntary act of the woman or minor” — such as, perhaps, attempting suicide in lieu of being able to terminate a pregnancy.

“This is not a ban on elective abortions,” Taylor explained in a committee hearing last month. “In fact, this bill is all about choice.”

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http://www.salon.com/2015/05/05/texas_gop_lawmaker_pushes_to_ban_insurance_coverage_for_all_elective_abortions/