The Virginia General Assembly is back in session and will be considering several bills related to abortion.  According to the Washington Post , this includes legislation to:

- Prohibit forced or coerced abortions and make them a misdemeanor or a felony if committed by the father.

- Require clinics that perform abortions to be licensed by the state and to comply with the requirements for ambulatory surgery centers.

- Reinstate the ban on abortions except when the life of the woman is threatened. This would go into effect if the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.

- Charge a pregnant woman with a felony if she misuses controlled substances.

- Direct the state to study the reasons why women get abortions.

- Change the state feticide law, which makes the unlawful killing of a fetus by someone other than the woman a felony. Under the change, the woman carrying the fetus could be charged.

- Calls for parents to give consent before their children could receive contraceptives.

The Washington Times has reported that Alexandria schools may begin to require students take a course on the issue of abortion.  "One instruction would be to answer "yes" or "no" to 10 instances in which somebody might consider an abortion. These instances include rape, being an unmarried teen, being a college student pregnant as the result of broken condom, and being an unmarried 20-year-old for whom the father is one of four sexual partners," said the article in today's Times.

While the answers would remain private they would provide guidelines for teachers to discuss the pro-life and pro-choice positions with students.

Other aspects of the course would include a history of abortion in Virginia.  There is no report on whether the actual procedure would be explained.