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March 31, 2016 (FRC) — How much does a governor's veto go for these days? Try $2 million, says Virginia Family Foundation President Victoria Cobb. That's how much the abortion lobby sank into Governor Terry McAuliffe's campaign (D-Va.) — and Tuesday, they got every penny's worth when the liberal refused to sign a popular bill defunding Planned Parenthood. “If there's one issue on which Governor McAuliffe has been ideologically rigid,” Cobb pointed out, “it is his unwavering support and protection of the $1 billion abortion industry.” Even more infuriating, the governor turned his veto announcement into a celebration at a Richmond Planned Parenthood clinic.

The self-anointed “brick wall” of abortion limits told the crowd of his biggest supporters: “We're here today to smack down the latest attack on women's health care rights,” McAuliffe told a group of Planned Parenthood patients and employees. “I am very proud of my strong record on reproductive rights, and let me tell you this, I am very proud to veto this particular piece of legislation.” Unfortunately, Virginians aren't nearly as proud as he is. The measure to defund Planned Parenthood and other clinics passed by wide margins in the Senate (64-35) and 21-19 in the House.

Among other ridiculous claims, the governor insisted that he's protecting women's “access to reproductive health,” when in fact, he's subjecting women to some of the worst care available. Not only does Cecile Richards's group refuse to offer comprehensive disease screening, but it's currently under criminal investigation for everything from trafficking in baby body parts to violating late-term and partial-birth abortion bans. The only “access” McAuliffe is protecting is Planned Parenthood's access to taxpayer-funding.

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Yet still, the governor argued, “If we are going to build a new, more vibrant Virginia economy, we need to be opening up doors to quality, affordable health care, not closing them.” As the Marriage and Religious Research Institute (MARRI) has made abundantly clear, the best way to build a more vibrant economy is to have more people participating in it. Abortion guarantees the opposite. But I suppose that's just another inconvenient truth in a radical ideology full of them.

Reprinted with permission from Family Research Council.